TRACY,  THE  BANDIT 

OR  THE 

ROMANTIC    LIFE    AND    CRIMES    OF    A    ^TWENTIETH 
CENTURY  DESPERADO. 


BY  CLARENCE  E.  RAY 


ILLUSTRATED-, 


No.  12 


REGAN  PUBLISHING  CORPORATION 

26  East  Van  Buren  Street 

Chicago 


Made  in  IT.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  In  Old  Missouri 7 

II.  Breakfast  with  Tramps 13 

III.  Tracy  as  a  Cattle  Rustler 20 

IV.  Behind  Prison  Bars 26 

V.  Trapped  by  the  Mormons 31 

VI.  A  Chained  Tiger 35 

VII.  What  a  Woman  Dares 42 

VIII.  Evil  Associates 47 

IX.  The  Horse  Thieves'  Rendezvous 52 

X.  The  Battle    57 

XI.  The  "Double  Cross"  62 

XII.  Hunted  by  Arapahoes t 68 

XIII.  A  Water  Rat 75 

XIV.  Holding  Up  an  Automobile  Party 80 

XV.  Robbing   a    Bank 85 

XVI.  A  Fight  for  Life 93 

XVII.  Tracy  Becomes  a  Burglar 98 

XVIII.  A  Carnival  of  Crime ' 104 

XIX.  The  Path  to  Freedom  Blazed  with  Blood. .  110 
5 

^«N/~*| 


932763 


0  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XX.    Two  Sheriffs  Held  Up 115 

XXI.    Tracy  and  Merrill  Ambush  a  Posse 119 

XXII.    "On  to  Washington" 125 

XXIII.  Sheriff  Bert  Blescher  Is  Shot 134 

XXIV.  Outwitting  a  Posse 139 

XXV.     The  Death  of  Merrill 144 

XXVI.    Six  Men  Held  Up 149 

XXVII.    Tracy  Against  a  Posse 154 

XXVIII.  Tracy  Again  Breaks  Through  a  Cordon  of 

Militia 159 

XXIX.    The  Capture  of  the  Jerrolds 164 

XXX.     Saved  Again  by  a  Woman 168 

XXXI.     The  Woods  Full  of  Deputies 172 

XXXII.    A  Dash  for 'the  Wilderness 174 

XXXIII.  Tracy  Rides  a  Bike 179 

XXXIV.  The  Outlaw's  End..                       182 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT 


CHAPTER   I. 


IN   OLg   MISSOURI. 


"Its  no  use,  'Genie,  I'm  goin5  to  git  out." 

"But  Harry,  if  you  didn't  have  anything  to  do  with 
it  what  need  you  care?" 

"They'll  say  I  did  an'  the  old  man  would  be  the  first 
to  give  me  up.  The  store  was  robbed  and  I  know  who 
did  it.  But  they  might  cut  me  up  before  I'd  tell." 

"Is  it  for  my  sake,  Harry?"  asked  the  girl  gently. 
The  young  fellow  stared  stolidly  into  the  fiery  red  of 
the  western  sky  and  was  silent.  The  girl  threw  one 
bare  arm  about  his  neck  and  kissed  him.  He  caught 
her  to  him  and  when  he  spoke  there  was  a  vicious 
note  in  his  tone. 

"I'd  shoot  the  sheriff  and  git  out  of  the  country  to- 
night if  I  thought  there  was  any  danger  that  you 
would  be  brought  into  it,"  he  said. 

"But  you  know  brother  Ben  was  into  it,"  she  said. 
He  made  no  answer  but  took  her  by  the  arm  and  led 
her  up  the  hill  towards  the  fiery  glow  which  proclaimed 
the  recent  retirement  of  the  god  of  day. 

He  was  a  tall,  well-made  fellow,  his  fine  figure  show- 
ing in  symmetrical  lines  in  spite  of  the  ill-made  jeans 
in  which  he  was  clothed.  There  was  lithe,  strong, 
young  manhood  in  every  inch  of  the  six  feet  of  him. 

7 


8  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

His  face  browned  by  a  life  spent  out  of  doors,  was 
clean  cut,  the  profile  scarcely  marked  by  the  moustache 
that  -wa'Ss  just-  springing  on  his  lip.  His  blue-gray 
eyes  were  keen  and  at  times,  just  now  for  instance, 
they  shone  with  a  sinister  gleam.  His  head  was 
covered  with  waving  brown  hair.  Even  then  he  was 
such  a  man  as  women  would  love  and  men  fear. 

As  yet  there  was  no  heavy  crime  on  Harry  Tracy's 
soul,  though  he  had  been  very  near  to  crime  more  than 
once.  He  might  have  looked  any  man  in  the  face 
honestly — though  perhaps  the  eye  that  has  looked  so 
often  over  the  sights  of  a  gun  and  dealt  death  to  one 
aimed  at  would  even  now  have  no  difficulty  in  looking 
fearlessly  at  any  man.  But  the  Harry  Tracy  who 
has  bought  infamy  at  the  expense  of  blood  on  the 
Pacific  coast  is  not  the  same  man  in  soul  or  feeling 
as  that  one  who  led  'Genie  Carter  up  that  hill  in  the 
Ozarks,  near  the  Arkansas  border  of  Missouri,  that 
June  night  eleven  years  ago. 

The  girl  clung  to  him  fondly.  She  did  not  at  all 
mind  the  fact  that  in  the  hollow  of  his  arm  there  lay 
a  shotgun.  She  was  a  daughter  of  the  Ozarks.  Born 
in  the  mountains,  she  had  spent  nearly  all  her  life 
there.  The  suggestion  of  refinement  in  her  tone  was 
an  acquisition  that  came  from  living  for  a  year  with 
an  aunt  in  Kansas  City. 

In  the  flower  of  her  girlhood  she  was  a  fit  mate  for 
the  young  man  against  whom  she  leaned.  Tall, 
willowy,  fair  to  look  at,  she  was  the  belle  of  the  coun- 
try-side and  among  the  rough  young  fellows  of  the 
mountains  there  were  plenty  who  would  be  glad  of 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  y 

the  chance  to  do  Harry  Tracy  an  injury  that  would 
take  him  from  her. 

They  stopped  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  from  which  the 
greater  elevations  of  the  west  could  be  seen  silhouetted 
against  the  deepening  shadows  of  the  sunset  sky. 

"I'm  off  over  them  mountains/'  said  Tracy. 

The  girl  sank  down  on  the  stump  of  one  of  the 
mountain  monarchs  that  had  fallen  to  make  a  part  of  -t 
the  home  of  the  Tracys — the  cabin  could  be  seen  dimly' 
down  in  the  valley. 

"Face  it  out  for  my  sake,  Harry,"  she  said. 

"I'm  goin'  away  for  your  sake,  'Genie/'  he  said. 

"Tell  me  about  it,"  she  said.  He  hesitated,  then  told 
her. 

"You  remember  when  I  left  you  here  Tuesday 
night?"  The  girl  nodded.  "Well  I  went  down  along 
by  the  river  road.  I  had  some  night  lines  I  wanted 
to  look  at.  I  was  layin'  on  the  bank  smokin'  and 
must  have  fallen  asleep,  for  I  started  up  when  I  heard 
voices  right  near. 

"There  was  three  men  in  a  skiff  pulling  hard.  I 
knew  all  of  them.  One  of  them  said: 

"  'We  better  plant  the  stuff  in  that  pile  of  brush 
back  of  Hoke  Gerrish's  place/ 

"Then  if  there's  any  row  we  can  set  fire  to  it/ 
said  another. 

'  'We  were  chumps  to  monkey  with  the  mail/  said 
another;  and  I  knew  Holton's  store  and  the  post- 
office  had  been  robbed. 

"They  went  on  and  I  lay  there  thinkin'  about  it. 
You  know,  'Genie,  I've  been  a  kind  of  a  wild  kid  and 


10  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

hain't  had  much  chance  and  when  I  heard  them  fellows 
talkin'  about  plantin'  the  stuff  it  came  to  tne  that  it 
wouldn't  do  much  harm  to  help  myself  to  some  of  it." 
The  girl  showed  no  repugnance  at  the  remark. 

"Well  I  waited  a  couple  of  hours  and  then  went 
down  to  Gerrish's  brush  pile.  I  was  nosin'  around  the 
pile  when  somebody  got  up  on  the  other  side  and 
pointed  a  gun  at  me. 

"I  guess  'Genie,  it's  a  good  thing  I  didn't  have  my 
gun  along  that  night  or  there  might  have  been  blood 
between  me  and  you." 

"It. was  my  brother  Ben,"  she  said. 

"It  was,  and  he  allowed  I  better  git  out  and  hit  the 
pike.  I  didn't  stop  to  argue.  When  I  got  home  I 
tried  to  git  into  the  house  quiet  but  I  met  the  old 
man.  It  was  pretty  near  daylight  and  he  done  some 
cussin'. 

"Yesterday  when  the  word  went  'round  that  they 
were  lookin'  for  the  men  that  robbed  the  store  Tues- 
day night  the  old  man  allowed  that  I  had  better  git 
out  if  I  didn't  want  to  be  taken — and  I'm  going.  I'm 
goin'  down  and  help  myself  to  that  plant  before  I  go," 
he  added  grimly. 

There  were  tears  in  the  girl's  eyes. 

"So  it  was  Ben,"  she  said.  -  "It's  a  wonder  you 
don't  take  a  shot  at  him,  Harry." 

"I  thought  about  that,  too,"  he  said  quietly.  "But 
there  is  you  and  blood  is  blood,  you  know." 

"No  blood  could  lie  between  you  and  me  Harry," 
said  the  girl  with  a  show  of  passion  that  startled  the 
man.  "I  am  going  with  you." 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  11 

"Not  on  you  life;  why  I'm  goin'  to  hike." 

'Then  I  will  come,  too/* 

"Will  you?  Then  when  I  get  square  and  send  for 
you  you'll  come?" 

"Anywhere,  at  any  time.    Hear  me  swear  it." 

"Don't  swear,"  said  Tracy  putting  his  hand  over 
her  mouth,  "I  can  do  all  the  swearin'  for  both  of  us. 
If  you  say  you'll  come,  you  will." 

"Anywhere,  in  sickness,  or  health,  prosperity  or  in 
prison,  send  for  me  and  I'll  come  to  you." 

Tracy  knelt  beside  her  and  kissed  her  passionately. 

"It  may  be  the  makin'  of  me  to  git  away  from  this 
life,"  he  said.  "We'll  be  better  off  away  from  this 
crowd."  She  hid  her  face  in  his  neck  and  wept 
Presently,  with  a  sharp  movement  the  man  bent  down 
and  picked  up  the  gun  that  lay  beside  him.  She 
started  and  peered  into  the  gloom  with  him. 

"That's  Ben  Nolts,  the  sheriff's  deputy.  I  guess 
this  is  where  I  start  my  hike.  Good  by,  dear.  If  I 
send  for  you  and  you  don't  come  I'll  come  for  you." 
There  was  that  sinister  look  on  his  face  again  as  he 
touched  his  gun.  The  girl  was  not  moved  by  the 
threat.  She  was  a  race  which  does  not  condemn 
a  man  for  revenging  the  infidelities  of  their  women. 

"Good-by,"  she  whispered.  There  was  a  clinging 
embrace  and  the  young  fellow  disappeared  amongst  the 
trees. 

The  girl  sat  motionless,  listening  to  the  hoofbeats  of 
the  deputy  sheriff's  horse.  Suddenly  there  came  a 
crashing  sound  from  the  depths  of  the  timber. 

"Halt !"    The  deputy  reined  up  his  horse  and  pointed 


12 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


a  rifle  in  the  direction  of  the  noise  made  by  Tracy  in 
stumbling  over  a  broken  bough.  "Come  out  yere 
Tracy,  or  I'll  fire.". 

"For  God's  sake  don't  shoot/'  shrieked  'Genie. 

"Huh,"  said  the  man ;  "so  it  is  Tracy."  He  threw 
up  his  gun  to  fire  when  a  shot  rang  out  and  Ben  Nplts 
fell  off  his  horse  with  a  load  of  buckshot  in  his  side. 

Harry  Tracy  had  winged  his  first  man  and  was  a 
fugitive  with  the  price  of  blood  on  his  head. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  13 

CHAPTER    II. 

BREAKFAST  WITH  TRAMPS — A  HOLD-UP. 


A  wayfaring  man,  gray  as  to  attire  and  dirty  as  to 
hands  and  face,  bent  over  a  camp-fire  and  poked 
delicately  with  a  sliver  at  a  big  catfish  artistically  grid- 
ironed  on  a  number  of  railroad  spikes  over  a  bed  of 
coals. 

Another  wayfarer,  as  gray  and  dirty  as  his  fellow, 
picked  baked  potatoes  out  of  the  hot  ashes  with  a 
hooked  stick.  Now  and  then  he  peered  into  a  steam- 
ing black  pot  which  emitted  an  odor  of  coffee. 

"How's  de  spuds,  Mike?"  asked  he  of  the  catfish. 

"Fit  fer  de  face  of  any  gent  in  de  land,"  said  Mike. 
"How  erbout  de  fish?" 

"It  'ud  bring  eight  dollars  dis  minute  at  de  Wal- 
dorf," rejoined  the  other.  "Let's  git  busy." 

The  tramps  were  breakfasting  or  about  to  break- 
fast under  a  railroad  bridge  spanning  the  mighty  flood 
of  the  Missouri,  the  "Big  Muddy"  rolling  its  turbulent 
waters  within  a  dozen  paces  of  the  tramps'  camping 
place. 

It  was  early  morning.  The  sun  was  high  enough 
to  have  taken  up  the  dew,  the  meadows,  through  which 
the  great  river  makes  its  way  north  of  Kansas  City, 
made  an  emerald  border  for  the  torrent  of  the  river. 
A  growth  of  timber  protected  the  hoboes'  camp  from 


14  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

the  too  boisterous  wind  which  ruffled  the  waters  of 
the  river. 

"Serve  de  fish,  Willie,"  said  Mike,  and  Willie  skill- 
fully  removed  the  big  catfish  to  a  layer  of  fresh  grass. 

"I  guess  dis  is  punk,"  remarked  Willie,  sarcastically, 
as  he  separated  a  section  of  the  fish. 

"Well,  you  drop  it!" 

The  tramps  started  up  in  affright  at  the  tone  rather 
than  because  of  the  words.  They  were  uttered  by  a 
young  fellow  who  might  have  been  one  of  their  own 
kind, 'but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  erect  and  his  manner 
commanding.  And  he  held  in  a  threatening  way  a 
shotgun  that  looked  ugly. 

"Don't  shoot,  boss,"  shouted  the  tramps  in  unison. 
And  they  fell  on  their  knees. 

"Go  over  and  sit  by  the  river  till  I  finish  my  break- 
fast," commanded  the  newcomer.  The  celerity  with 
which  the  wayfarers  obeyed  left  no  room  for  com- 
plaint. The  man  with  the  shotgun  sat  down  with  his 
weapon  across  his  knees  and  ate  ravenously  of  the 
fish  and  potatoes. 

"I  don't  want  to  hurt  you  fellows,"  he  said  presently, 
"but  I  have  found  lately  that  the  way  to  get  a  thing 
that  you  want  badly  is  to  take  it."  The  assurance 
really  put  courage  into  the  tramps. 

"If  I  had  sump'n  to  put  in  my  face  I'd  kinder  like 
de  idea  of  bein'  stuck  up,"  said  Mike. 

"If  I  wasn't  quite  so  flat  I'd  swell  up  meself," 
said  Willie. 

"It's  funny,"  said  the  man  who  had  been  eating 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  15 

voraciously.  "I  guess  you  fellows  might  as  well 
cut  in." 

They  waited  for  no  further  invitation  but  helped 
themselves  to  the  fish  and  potatoes,  and  conversation 
was  suspended  until  there  was  nothing  left  of  the 
feast  but  skin  and  bones. 

"TSTow  will  you  fellows  tell  me  where  we  are?" 
asked  the  uninvited  guest,  stretching  himself  out  on 
the  grass. 

"If  I  had  your  nerve,"  said  Willie,  "I'd  fink' I  wuz 
in  paradise  now." 

"Never  mind  my  nerve  but  tell  me  where  I  am," 
said  the  other. 

"Well  accordin'  ter  my  mileage  book  dis  spot  is 
principally  about  eleven  miles  from  K.  C." 

"From  where?" 

"W'y  K.  C.— Kansas  City." 

"Down  river  ?" 

"Yep." 

"What's  above  here." 

"Well,  deres  St.  Joe  an'  furder  up  deres  Bismark  an' 
way  up  deres  Montana."  The  man  with  the  gun 
suspected  no  jocularity  in  the  reply. 

"How  far  do  you  think  it  is  to  Montana  ?"  he  asked. 

"  'Bout  four  t'ousand  miles,  I  should  say.  Coin'  ter 
make  de  trip  ?" 

Tracy,  it  was  he,  gazed  thoughtfully  away  across 
the  river.  For  a  month  he  had  skulked  through  the 
woods  at  night.  He  had  lived  on  the  growing  corn  in 
the  fields  and  had  not  scrupled  to  rob  hen  roosts.  He 
had  been  shunned  by  travelers  and  had  in  turn  shunned 


16  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

men  and  towns.  In  a  paper  he  picked  up  he  saw  a 
description  of  himself  and  that  there  was  a  reward 
offered  for  his  capture.  He  was  charged  with  robbing 
a  postoffice  and  shooting  to  kill  an  officer.  He  had 
committed  no  violence  but  he  had  kept  the  shotgun 
and  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  not  be  taken. 

Montana, — that  was  the  place.  If  he  could  but 
get  to  Montana ! 

"You  fellows  goin'  to  Kansas  City  ?"  inquired  Tracy. 

"Not  me/'  said  Mike.  "A  fren'  of  mine  down  dere 
insisted  on  me  goin'  ter  der  country  yesterday  an'  I 
ducked.  All  Y'  makin'  a  gate  way?" 

Tracy  did  not  understand  the  tramps  slang  but  the 
manner  of  his  question  conveyed  its  meaning. 

"I'm  goin'  to  get  some  other  clothes  and  another 
kind  of  gun/'  he  said. 

The  tramps  looked  at  each  other.  Then  one  nodded, 
"Tell  him,  Willie,"  he  said. 

"Ar'y'  game  to  go  an'  get  some  glad  rags  if  I  puts 
youse  next?"  he  asked. 

"I  don't  think  you're  very  game  yourself,"  said 
Tracy,  laughing.  "But  what  is  it?" 

"Well  las'  night  we  runs  across  a  camp  dat  a  lot 
of  swells  has  got  up  'round  de  nex'  bend  in  de  river. 
Dere's  four  of  dem  an'  dey  got  two  tents  an'  a  launch 
an'  nuttin'  but  clo's  an  grub."  Tracy's  eyes  closed  to 
a  slit.  He  thought  a  moment  then  said : 

"Can  either  of  you  run  a  launch?" 

"I  used  ter  fire  on  a  boat,"  said  Mike. 

"Till  yer  got  fired  off  de  boat,  eh?"  said  Willie. 

"Come  on  then,"  said  Tracy,  standing  up. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  17 

"What's  doin'?"  asked  Mike. 

"I'm  goin'  up  and  capture  that  camp,"  said  Tracy, 
"and  if  you  fellows  want  some  clothes  and  a  sail  up 
the  Missouri  you  can  come  along/'  The  tramps  got 
up  and  followed  him  without  a  word. 

The  "swells"  had  just  breakfasted.  They  had  struck 
their  tents  and  the  canvas  was  stowed  in  a  handsome 
launch  that  lay  at  anchor  a  few  yards  out  in  the 
stream.  There  were  three  young  fellows  and  an 
elderly  man  in  the  party.  They  were  smoking  and 
discussing  where  they  should  make  their  next  stop 
when  a  man  strode  out  of  the  timber  and  threw  a 
shotgun  up  to  his  shoulder : 

"Throw  up  your  hands/1  he  commanded.  The 
elderly  man  threw  up  his  hands,  the  others  hesitated 
until  the  order  was  repeated,  and  in  such  a  tone  that 
they  nearly  dislocated  their  shoulders  obeying  it. 

"Now  take  off  your  clothes  and  hand  them  to 
these  two  gentlemen,"  indicating  the  two  grinning 
tramps  standing  behind  him. 

"You  know  there  is  no  chance  of  your  getting  away 
if  you  rob  in  this  way,"  said  the  elderly  man.  "I  am 
willing  to  give  up  some  money." 

"Well  I  may  take  that,  too,"  said  Tracy,  "but  what 
I  need  most  is  clothes  and  yachts,  hurry." 

Even  at  that  time  there  was  an  air  of  the  desperado 
about  him  that  made  it  clear  to  the  men  that  argu- 
ment would  be  vain  and  might  provoke  the  bandit  to 
violence.  The  campers  wore  yachting  trousers  and 
fancy  silk  skirts.  The  tramps  grinned  with  enjoy- 


18  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

ment — for  which  they  afterwards  paid  dearly — as  they 
helped  the  men  strip  to  their  underwear. 

Tracy  stood  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  camp, 
which  was  in  a  hollow.  When  the  men  were  disrobed 
he  ordered  them  to  stand  up  in  a  line,  and  backed 
down  to  the  water's  edge  with  the  tramps. 

"You  don't  intend  to  takei  the  boat  ?"  said  the  elderly 
man.  The  others  were  still  paralyzed  under  shotgun 
influence. 

"Don't  I?"  said  Tracy.  "Well  you  watch  me.  I 
may  send  it  back  some  day."  He  backed  into  the 
water  and  stood  guard  over  the  protesting  victims 
of  the  outrage  while  the  tramps -clambered  into  the 
boat.  It  was  a  naphtha  launch  and  was  ready  to  start 
in  a  minute.  Tracy  climbed  over  the  side. 

"Now  get  out  of  here,"  he  ordered.  He  cut  the 
anchor  rope  and  the  bpat  fell  off  down  stream.  The 
tramps  knew  enough  about  machinery  but  they  pres- 
ently found  that  they  could  make  no  headway  against 
the  current.  Tracy  had  not  thought  of  this.  His 
idea  had  been  to  run  the  boat  up  the  river.  He  acted 
at  once  with  that  decision  which  afterwards  got  him 
out  of  many  tight  places. 

"Let's  go  down  stream,  then,"  he  said. 

An  hour  later  he  ran  the  launch  ashore  on  the  Kansas 
side  of  the  river  at  Kansas  City.  The  tramps  had 
found  a  jug  of  whiskey  and  were  stupidly  drunk, 
already.  They  had  dressed  themselves  in  the  white 
trousers  and  fancy  shirts,  taken  from  the  victims  of 
the  robbery.  Tracy,  with  the  cunning  of  the  criminal 
who  has  an  eye  to  escape,  searched  the  lockers  of  the 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  19 

boat  and  found  a  blue  flannel  suit  that  fitted  him 
fairly  well.  In  the  pockets  of  the  clothing  taken  from 
the  campers  there  were  found  four  watches  and  near 
two  hundred  dollars.  This  had  been  divided  between 
the  three  of  them. 

"It's  no  use  wasting  money  on  hoboes  like  these," 
said  Tracy,  and  he  robbed  the  other  robbers. 

Two  hours  later  Tracy  got  off  a  train  that  stopped 
at  a  little  station  on  the  Kansas  prairie.  He  walked 
north  three  miles  and  got  board  for  a  week  at  a  farm 
house  owned  by  a  deaf  widower  named  Wallin. 

About  the  time  he  was  arranging  for  his  board  the 
tramps  were  arrested,  weeping  drunk,  and  they  never 
saw  Tracy  again,  being  compelled  to  serve  a  sentence 
is  the  penitentiary  for  robbery  from  the  person  and 
stealing  a  boat, 


20  TRACY/  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER    III. 


TRACY  AS  A  CATTLE  RUSTLER. 


Nature  in  a  wild  mood,  laid  out  that  tremendous  ex- 
panse of  rough  territory,  which  is  generally  described 
by  Western  men  as  the  "Foothills  of  the  Rockies." 

Mountain  fastnesses,,  in  which  armies  might  be 
hidden,  open  onto  beautiful  valleys,  filled  with  lush 
pasturage.  Thousands  of  head  of  sleek  cattle  browse 
on  the  unlimited  range  in  these  rich  valleys,  which 
extend  for  a  thousand  miles  on  the  Wyoming  grazing 
country  and  well  up  into  the  British  possessions. 

This  territory  was,  a  few  years  ago,  the  paradise  of 
the  cattle  rustler.  Knowing  that  it  was  impossible  for 
the  ranchman  to  control  easily  the  wandering  of  their 
countless  herds,  horse  thieves,  who  had  found  the 
confines  of  civilization  too  hot  for  them;  cowboys, 
"  compelled  by  crime  or  licentious  lives  to  forsake  the 
cattle  outfits  doing  a  legitimate  business;  the  skum 
of  the  mining  camps,  soldiers  of  fortune  enlisted  in 
the  armies  of  adversity — such  men  as  these  formed 
themselves  into  small  bands  for  the  purpose  of  prey- 
ing on  the  unprotected  herds. 

Having  their  retreats  in  the  mountain  fastnesses, 
they  would  swoop  down  on  a  herd  at  night  and  "cut 
out"  as  many  head  of  cattle  as  the  extent  of  their  out- 
fit would  permit,  drive  them  into  the  upper  valleys, 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT  21 

where  they  were  practically  immune  from  pursuit, 
there  brand  the  cattle  over  again  and  find  a  market 
for  then}  as  opportunity  presented,  or  herd  them 
across  the  international  boundary. 

In  the  summer  of  1895,  Harry  Tracy  beaten  about 
by  fortune,  found  himself  a  member  of  one  of  these 
lawless  bands  in  southwestern  Montana. 

Two  years  had  passed  since  the  time  of  the  first 
exploit  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  river.  There  is 
no  record  of  his  movements  during  this  time.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  drifted  readily  into  that  mode  of  life  to 
which  his  vicious  and  daring  nature  best  fitted  him. 

Consorting  with  thieves  at  Omaha,  fleeing  before 
the  approach  of  officers  of  the  law,  finding  his  com- 
panionship among  cheap  gamblers  and  grafters — that 
class  of  men  which  finds  means  to  subsist  on,  taking 
the  fewest  possible  chances  with  the  law,  in  the  small 
towns  of  the  frontier. 

-That  he  had  developed  criminal  instincts  in  a  marked 
degree  is  demonstrated  by  the  fragmentary  stories  told 
of  his  career  at  that  time.  It  is  known  that  while  he 
was  dealing  stud  poker  at  Billings,  Mont.,  in  the  fall 
of  '93  he  took  offense  at  an  accusation  aimed  at  him 
by  one  of  the  players  and  deliberately  shot  the  man 
through  the  eye.  His  gambling  companions  helped 
him  to  escape  punishment  for  this  offense,  but  the 
pursuit  drove  him  to  the  cattle  rustlers'  country. 

There  the  men  he  met  with  were,  like  himself, 
fugitives  from  justice.  They  recognized  in  him  a 
congenial  spirit.  His  fine  physique,  daring  bravado, 
utter  recklessness  in  the  face  of  danger  and  ready  wit 


22  TRACY.   THE   BANDIT. 


made  him  in  a  few  months  a  leader  in  the  notorious 
John  Shortall's  band. 

There  were  several  men  in  the  Shortall  gang  and 
Tracy  soon  found  that  Shortall  was  merely  the  leader 
by  reason  of  his  seniority  in  crime. 

The  band  had  its  headquarters  a  few  miles  north 
of  the  Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  to  which  the 
gang  was  in  the  habit  of  resorting  when  pursued  by  the 
cattle  men's  organizations.  Shortall  had  Indian  blood 
in  his  veins  and  this,  together  with  his  familiarity 
with  the  Shoshone  patois  made  him  a  valuable  mem- 
ber of  the  band. 

On  one  of  their  numerous  excursions  into  the  reser- 
vation Shortall  had  taken  to  himself  a  wife,  in  the 
daughter  of  a  minor  chief.  The  girl  was  good  to  look 
at  and  in  that  country,  where  femininity  is  rare,  was 
reckoned  as  a  beauty. 

His  later  career  shows  that  Tracy  never  altogether 
forgot  'Genie  Carter,  but  it  is  certain  that  when  the 
young  wife  of  Shortall  made  him  a  favorite  among 
her  admirers,  he  made  no  strenuous  objections. 

The  event  which  led  to  Tracy  being  driven  out  of  the 
cattle  country,  took  place  one  night  when  the  stores  of 
the  outfit  had  been  recently  replenished  with  bad 
whiskey  from  some  post  trader's  magazine.  The  band 
was  at  the  home  rendezvous  at  the  end  of  a  little 
valley  in  the  mountains.  It  was  a  clear  and  beautiful 
night,  the  lambent  beams  of  the  full  moon,  lighting 
up  the  beautiful  landscape  and  showing  nature  in 
serene  repose. 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  23 

The  loveliness  of  the  night  was  lost  on  the  imbruted 
men  who,  given  ovet  to  a  wild  debauch,  such  as  is 
only  possible  to  these  wild  natures  without  the  tram- 
mels of  civilization,  made  night  hideous  with  shrieking 
and  cursing. 

Shortall  led  the  rest  in  drunkenness.  Tracy,  always 
self-contained,  did  not  unbridle  his  appetite  for  drink. 

He  was  comparatively  sober  when  he  met  Shortall's 
wife  at  the  end  of  the  corral.  His  horse  stood  there, 
saddled  and  bridled ;  his  rifle  leaned  against  the  corral 
fence.  About  his  waist  were  strapped  the  two  re- 
volvers which  he  never  permitted  himself  to  become 
separated  from  even  at  that  early  day  in  his  career. 

Whether  the  woman  intended  to  elope  with  Tracy 
was  never  known.  They  were  talking  quietly  enough, 
when  Shortall,  with  a  wild  scream  of  Indian  rage 
dashed  around  the  corner  of  the  corral  and  found 
them  together. 

Both  men  reached  for  their  weapons  at  once,  but 
Tracy's  revolver  spoke  first.  Shortall  was  ten  paces 
away  but  the  bullet  from  the  Colt's  found  its  billet 
fairly  between  the  gleaming  eyes  of  the  quarter  breed. 

The  scream  of  rage  died  on  his*  lips.  The  man 
threw  up  his  arms,  turned  half  around  and  fell  on 
his  face  in  the  corral  litter.  Even  as  Tracy  shot,  two 
other  men  of  the  band,  old  companions  of  Shortall, 
came  around  the  end  of  the  corral. 

There  was  no  hesitation  in  Tracy's  action.  Even 
while  the  smoke  from  his  pistol  still  hung  in  the  air 
he  threw  himself  into  the  saddle,  reached  down  and 
caught  up  the  woman,  who  clung  to  him  madly.  As 


24  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

he  dug  the  spurs  into  the  horse  the  drunken  rustlers 
saw  the  body  of  their  leader  and  opened  fire  on  the 
fleeing  man  and  woman,  but  their  bullets  went  wide. 

When  not  more  than  a  mile  away,  the  horse,  stagger- 
ing under  its  double  burden,  slipped  and  fell.  When 
Tracy  tried  to  force  the  brute  to  its  feet  the  animal 
screamed  with  pain. 

"Curse  it,"  said  the  rustler,  "now  there  must  be  a 
fight." 

Already  the  sounds  of  pursuit  were  audible,  and  two 
mounted  men  might  be  discerned  in  the  moonlight, 
following  the  trail  the.  flying  couple  had  taken.  Just 
of?  the  trail  a  little  pile  of  rocks  formed  a  natural 
barricade. 

To  this  barricade  Tracy  led  the  squaw,  and  both 
crouched  to  await  the  approach  of  the  pursuers. 

Blind  with  rage  and  drink  the  men  only  halted  when 
they  were  almost  upon  the  disabled  horse. 

"They've  taken  to  the  hills  afoot,  I  reckon,"  said 
one  of  them. 

"Well,  well  follow,"  said  the  other.  "That  cur 
Tracy  is  too  handy  with  his  gun  to  be  let  loose  with 
a  squaw  to  steal  ammunition  for  him." 

What  restrained  Tracy  from  killing  them  both,  as 
he  might  have  done  where  they  stood,  the  desperado 
could  never  tell,  but  he  did  not  shoot.  The  men  went 
on  up  into  the  hills. 

As  soon  as  the  sound  of  their  hoof  beats  became 
faint  Tracy  took  the  woman  by  the  hand  and  led 
her  back  in  the  direction  of  the  camp.  All  was  silent 
there.  Overcome  by  the  potent  liquor  they  had  been 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  25 

indulging  in,  the  other  members  of  the  band  had  lapsed 
into  drunken  stupor.  Shortall's  body  lay  where  he 
had  fallen. 

Tracy  stepped  over  the  dead  man,  vaulted  the  corral 
fence,  and  in  a  few  minutes  led  forth  two  horses, 
saddled  and  bridled.  The  rifle  he  had  left  leaning 
against  the  corral  he  picked  up  and  the  oddly  assorted 
couple,  turning  their  horses  to  the  south,  made  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  reservation. 

The  time  consumed  in  getting  the  horse  proved  fatal 
for  one  of  the  escaping  pair.  The  men  who  had  gone 
into  the  hills  looking  for  them,  returning  through  a 
narrow  defile,  suddenly  turned  a  spur  in  the  hill  and 
found  themselves  within  a  dozen  paces  of  Tracy  and 
the  woman. 

The  three  shots  that  rang  out  were  almost  simul- 
taneous. The  woman  threw  up  her  hands,  screamed, 
and  fell  heavily  from  her  horse.  Even  before  he 
heard  the  thud  of  her  body  striking  the  earth  Tracy 
was  busy  with  a  revolver  in  each  hand.  One  of  his 
opponents  swayed  in  his  saddle  and  fell  on  his  horses 
neck.  The  other  turned  tail  and  dashed  up  the  defile, 
from  which  the  two  had  emerged. 

Tracy  waited  a  moment,  reloaded  his  guns,  looked 
carelessly  at  the  prone  form  of  the  dead  woman,  then 
rode  away  to  the  south  at  a  hand  gallop. 

His  career  as  a  cattle  rustler  was  closed. 


26  TRACY,    THE    BANDIT. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


BEHIND  PRISON   BARS — 'GENIE   CARTBl. 


Tracy  appeared  in  Cripple  Creek  several  months 
after  this  flight  from  Montana.  He  was  known  as 
Harry  Ward.  There  was  in  his  appearance  no  indica- 
tion of  the  frontier  cow  rustler  who  had  killed  Shortall. 

He  was  a  well-appearing,  quiet,  unassuming  fellow, 
such  as  may  be  seen  in  groups  hanging  about  the 
gambling  rooms  of  mining  towns. 

Cripple  Creek  had  not  yet  worn  off  the  rough 
edges  which  chafed  tender-feet  when  it  was  the  great- 
est mining  camp  on  earth.  Cheap,  unpainted  lumber 
shacks  stood  cheek  by  jowl  beside  handsome  business 
blocks.  The  streets  were  filled  night  and  day  with  a 
motley  crowd,  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
all  intent  u£on  the  pursuit  of  the  dollar — and  most 
of  them  not  caring  much  how  they  got  it.  In  those 
days  there  were  no  questions  asked  about  previous 
records  in  case  the  owner  of  the  record  appeared  to 
behave  himself  within  the  lines  of  those  canons  laid 
down  for  the  policing  of  the  camp. 

Tracy  was  no  more  noticed  than  any  other  of  the 
members  of  what  appeared  to  be  his  profession.  Os- 
tensibly he  was  a  gambler.  He  had  all  the  qualities 
necessary  to  preside  at  a  roulette  wheel,  a  chuck-a- 
luck  board  or  a  hazard  table.  There  was  a  gleam  in 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  27! 

his  eye  that  warned  the  disputatious  worshipper  at 
the  shrine  of  Fortune  who  was  inclined  to  argue  that 
he  had  won  a  bet  after  the  dealer  declared  that  he  had 
lost. 

After  the  fashion  of  his  profession,  Tracy,  or  Ward, 
as  he  was  known,  was  in  the  habit  of  wooing  the 
fickle  goddess  himself  at  times,  and  he  did  not  scruple 
to  use  any  advantage  known  to  the  trade  in  the 
pursuit  of  fortune;  "suckers"  being  plenty,  he  gener- 
ally had  money,  and  his  clothes  were  made  in  Denver. 

It  is  still  remembered  of  Him  that  he  was  regarded 
as  a  man  who  might  take  a  desperate  chance  but  who 
would  not  go  out  of  his  way  to  seek  a  quarrel.  He 
might  even  have  drifted  into  the  manner  of  life  of 
the  short-card  gambler,  who  is  satisfied  with  his  ad- 
vantage and  not  worried  by  moral  scruples. 

But  the  fate  that  led  him  on  to  his  ultimate  destiny^ 
and  branded  his  name  with  the  infamy  of  atrocious 
.  crime  did  not  let  him  rest.  And  the  machinery  of 
fate  took  its  usual  form— the  woman  in  the  case  ap- 
peared. 

What  correspondence,  if  any,  Tracy  had  maintained 
with  the  girl  to  whom  he  said  farewell  near  the  old 
home  in  the  Ozarks,  when  his  soul  was  yet  unstained 
with  crime,  does  not  appear.  But  one  day  he  appeared 
on  the  street  with  a  girl  whose  fresh  beauty  would 
have  appealed  to  men  less  accustomed  to  female  loveli- 
ness than  the  denizens  of  Cripple  Creek  in  that  day. 

She  was  tall  and  fair  without  the  insipidity  of  the 
blonde.  She  was  dressed  modestly,  but  in  good  taste, 
and  carried  herself  with  an  air  of  distinction  that 


28  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


must  have  come  rather  from  her  free  life  in  the  moun- 
tains and  intuitive  good  taste  than  from  any  training 
she  had  enjoyed.  What  the  manner  of  'Genie  Carter's 
life  had  been  from  the  time  she  disappeared  from  her 
mountain  home,  a  few  months  after  Harry  Tracy  left, 
cannot  be  told.  But  there  was  that  about  the  girl 
which  made  her  quite  safe,  generally,  from  the  com- 
ment's of  Tracy's  friends.  Perhaps,  too,  Tracy's 
friends  knew  him  well  enough  to  refrain  from  com- 
ment of  any  sort. 

Mrs.  Ward,  as  she  was  known,  kept  aloof  from  the 
only  society  in  which  she  might  have  moved.  The 
girl  was  a  great  deal  alone,  but  was  rarely  seen  in 
public  without  Tracy.  Had  the  couple  observed  that 
rule  of  always  going  out  together  the  end  of  Tracy's 
career  might  not  have  been  written  in  blood. 

But  there  came  a  night  when  'Genie  ventured  into 
the  street  alone.  While  she  was  passing  through  a 
crowd  of  men,  one,  a  low-browed  fellow  with  hair  oiled 
and  moustache  dyed,  who  posed  as  a  "bad  man,"  had 
the  temerity  to  make  a  light  remark.  The  girl  looked 
at  him  disdainfully,  and  was  about  to  pass  on  when  he 
stepped  up  beside  her  and  said  something. 

'Genie  slapped  his  face.  The  man,  astonished  by 
the  stinging  blow  and  enraged  by  the  jeers  of  the 
crowd  slunk  into  a  saloon.  Three  hours  later  he 
stood  at  the  bar,  telling  what  he  proposed  to  do  to 
that  "Dude,"  Harry  Ward.  The  fellow  had  acquired 
a  reputation  for  being  quick  to  shoot.  He  had  been 
a  deputy  marshal  in  Leadville  in  the  early  days,  and 
it  was  known  that  there  were  notches  on  his  gun. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  29 

An  associate  of  Tracy  looked  him  up  and  told  him 
to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  Luke  Theron  if  he  wanted 
to  avoid  a  fight.  Tracy  inquired  the  animus  of 
Theron's  threats  and  was  told  the  story  of  how  the 
man  had  his  face  slapped. 

Tracy  walked  directly  over  to  the  Senate  saloon, 
where  Theron  was  still  voicing  his  threats,  walked  up 
to  the  man,  who  did  not  observe  his  approach,  laid  his 
hand  on  his  shoulder  and  said : 

"Theron,  if  you're  sober  enough  to  go  to  hell  in 
the  morning  I'll  kill  you." 

Theron  reached  for  his  gun,  but  bystanders  inter- 
fered and  disarmed  him.  Tracy  turned  around  and 
walked  out  of  the  place. 

The  sun  was  just  climbing  over  the  hills  that  form  a 
wall  about  Cripple  Creek  the  next  morning  when  Ward 
appeared,  walking  nonchalantly  down  the  main 
thoroughfare.  He  was  directly,  opposite  the  Senate 
saloon  when  his  eye  caught  the  shadow  of  a  man 
coming  out  of  the  doorway. 

It  was  said  afterwards  that  he  had  been  strolling 
along  with  his  hand  on  his  pistol.  In  any  event  his 
right  arm  straightened  out.  There  was  a  report  and 
Luke  Theron  pitched  forward  on  his  face  dead,  his 
right  hand  clutching  his  weapon.  Tracy  made  no 
attempt  to  escape,  but  surrendered  and  was  locked  up 
in  the  make-shift  jail. 

At  the  preliminary  hearing  it  was  shown  that  Tracy, 
or  Ward  had  specifically  threatened  to  take  Theron's 
life,  and  in  spite  of  the  evidence  given,  showing  that 
Theron  had  first  made  threats,  Tracy  was  held  for 


30  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

murder.  It  was  openly  said  at  the  time  that  the  dead 
man's  friends  had  exerted  their  influence  to  keep 
Tracy  in  prison. 

For  two  weeks  Tracy  was  held  behind  the  bars  and 
during  every  moment  of  that  time,  when  the  rules 
permitted,  'Genie  was  with  him.  On  the  fourteenth 
night  of  his  imprisonment  Tracy  pushed  his  way 
through  the  bars  of  his  cell  door.  They  had  been 
sawn  through  during  the  days  when  'Genie's  skirts 
hid  the  cell  door  from  the  jailer's  eyes.  The  first 
the  jailer  knew  of  an  attempt  to  escape  was  when 
Tracy  thrust  the  muzzle  of  a  gun  just  behind  his  ear 
and  said  quietly : 

"Now  you  just  be  good.  There  isn't  anything  going 
id  happen  to  you." 

He  disarmed  the  man,  fastened  his  hands  behind 
him  with  a  pair  of  hand-cuffs,  which  he  took  from  a 
hook  in  the  wall,  fitted  a  handy  pair  of  leg-irons  on 
him,  slipped  a  stick  of  wood  in  his  mouth  for  a  gag 
and  let  himself  out  of  the  jail. 

A  few  blocks  down  the  steep  street  stood  two  horsesA 
held  by  a  slight  figure  enveloped  in  ft  raincoat,  the 
clumsy  garment  only  partly  serving  to  hide  the  swell- 
ing lines  of  'Genie  Carter's  form.  As  Tracy  ap- 
proached she  called  :• 

"Harry." 

He  strode  up  and  kissed  her. 

"Good  girl,"  he  said. 

An  instant  later  the  rattle  of  their  horses'  hoofs  was 
ringing  Harry  Tracy's  farewell  to  and  defiance  of 
Cripple  Creek. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  31 


CHAPTER      V. 


TRAPPED  BY  THE  MORMONS. 


'Genie  Carter  suffered  apparently  gladly  the  fright- 
ful hardships  that  became  a  part  of  Tracy's  desperate 
methods  of  life  in  eluding  pursuit  after  the  couple 
had  left  Cripple  Creek.  For  months  the  pair  wan- 
dered through  the  mountain  defiles,  Tracy  making  his 
way  steadily  to  the  west.  The  country  through  which 
the  pair  traveled  is  the  most  frightfully  forbidding 
on  the  continent. 

For  the  weeks  they  wandered  aimlessly  through 
canons,  following  little  streams  and  rivers,  climbing 
mountains,  seldom  seeing  a  human  habitation  or  the 
face  of  man.  The  horses  were  sold  before  they  left 
the  confines  of  civilization  and  most  of  the  journey  to 
the  Green  river  country  was  made  on  foot.  Some 
touch  of  the  desperation  that  marked  the  character  of 
Tracy  must  have  entered  into  the  composition  of  the 
girl,  for  she  was  never  a  burden  to  him,  though  the 
hardships  they  endured  must  have  borne  heavily  on 
her. 

The  man  avoided  all  the  traveled  routes.  Whether 
he  feared  the  pursuit  of  the  law,  or  chose  rather  the 
companionship  of  his  wife  to  the  certainty  of  giving 
her  up  had  they  appeared  in  town,  is  not  clear.  It 
may  be  that  she  entered  into  the  spirit  that  controlled 


32  TRACY,    THE   BANDIT. 

him,  for  she  appears  to  have  taken  a  part  in  certair 
desperate  ventures  he  engaged  in  when  they  arrived 
in  the  Green  river  country. 

On  the  fourth  of  November  of  that  year  a  mule 
train  taking  provisions  and  machinery  to  the  Yellow 
Lode  mine  was  stopped  in  a  narrow  pass  in  the  moun- 
tains by  a  man  who  held  the  driver  and  guard  at  the 
point  of  a  rifle,  while  a  boyish-looking  fellow  searched 
them  and  the  baggage  for  money.  The  man  was  Tracy. 
The  hold  up  was  performed  with  that  reckless  in- 
difference to  danger  and  masterfulness,  which  after- 
ward became  so  characteristic  of  the  bandit. 

He  sat  on  a  jutting  point  of  rock  within  full  view 
of  the  teamster  and  guard  and  waited  for  the  outfit 
to  approach.  It  did  not  occur  to  the  men  that  a 
robber  would  so  recklessly  expose  himself  and  they 
were  within  a  dozen  paces  of  him,  thinking  him  a 
harmless  wayfarer,  when  he  threw  up  two  revolvers 
and  sung  out  in  a  tone  that  showed  he  meant  business : 

"Hold  up  there ;  get  down  and  let's  see  what  you've 
got." 

There  was  no  chance  for  an  argument  Peter 
Morson*  the  driver,  and  Mart  Willis,  the  guard,  were 
men  of  tried  courage.  Morson  had  driven  stage  coach 
in  the  mountains  in  those  days  when  the  command  to 
halt  was  a  rather  usual  incident  of  the  trip.  Willis, 
the  guard,  had  been  Marshall  of  Hayes  City,  and 
had  a  wide  reputation  as  a  man  who  could  shoot  quick 
and  straight. 

Upon   receiving  the  command  to  halt  Willis  in- 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  33 

stinctively  reached  for  his  gun.  A  revolver  bullet 
shattered  his  elbow  joint. 

"Another  move  like  that  and  I  won't  wing  you. 
Now  leave  your  guns  alone  and  get  down."  This 
in  a  hard,  metallic  tone  from  the  robber  on  the  rock. 
The  men  jumped  down,  holding  their  hands  high  in 
the  air.  Then  the  slight,  boyish-looking  fellow  step- 
ped out  from  behind  the  rock.  He  was  unarmed,  a 
handkerchief  concealed  the  lower  part  of  his  features. 
Stepping  up  to  the  men  he  very^deliberately  disarmed 
them,  then  quite  as  coolly  searched  them. 

"This  is  tough  on  an  old-timer,  to  be  frisked  by  a 
kid,"  said  Willis. 

"That  may  tie  pard,"  said  the  younger  robber  in  a 
piping  voice,  "but  ain't  I  doing* a  good  job?" 

"There  hain't  no  kick  on  the  job,"  rejoined  Willis, 
but  I  hope  to  have  a  chance  to  frisk  you  some  day." 

"I  hope  not,"  said  the  young  fellow,  and  Willis  de- 
clared afterward  that  he  saw  the  boy  blush. 

The  smaller  bandit,  under  the  direction  of  the 
other,  and  while  Tracy  kept  up  a  running  fire  of  jok- 
ing comment,  searched  the  wagon,  taking  $1,200  in 
bills,  which  had  been  intended  for  the  pay  roll  at  the 
Yellow  Lode  mine,  from  a  pouch  beneath  the  seat. 
Then,  still  by  Tracy's  direction,  a  side  of  bacon  and 
some  other  provisions  were  taken  from  the  wagon  and 
put  into  a  sack,  the  mule  traces  cut,  the  men  tied  hand 
and  foot  with  straps  made  from  the  reins  and  the 
robbers  disappeared  down  the  mountain.  Tracy  hurl- 
ing back  the  jeering  remark : 

"I  hope  you  fellers  won't  catch  cold  tonight." 


34  TRACY.,  THE  BANDIT. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  young  "fellow"  who  as- 
sisted in  the  robbery  was  'Genie  Carter,  though  five 
days  later,  when  Tracy  walked  boldly  into  Provost, 
Utah,  he  was  alone.  A  few  weeks  later  a  woman, 
bronzed  by  exposure  to  the  weather,  made  her  ap- 
pearance in  Denver.  Her  clothing  suggested  primi- 
tive methods  of  dress-making,  but  was  soon  replaced 
by  more  fashionable  garments.  She  had  plenty  of 
money  and  was  later  quite  fully  identified  as  Mrs. 
Ward,  who  had  lived  for  a  short  time  in  Cripple 
Creek. 

Tracy's  bravado,  in  showing  himself  in  Provost  so 
soon  after  the  hold  up,  came  very  near  being  his  un- 
doing. 

Willis,  the  guard,  chagrined  beyond  measure,  at 
having  submitted  to  a  hold  up,  no  sooner  had  his  shat- 
tered arm  repaired  than  he  betook  himself  to  Provost 
with  a  view  to  drowning  his  sorrow  in  drink.  In 
spite  of  the  store  clothes  that  Tracy  wore  and  the 
clean  shave  that  changed  his  appearance  materially, 
Willis  recognized  the  robber.  Tracy  was  himself 
drinking  more  deeply  th^n  was  his  custom  and  seems 
to  have  been  taken  unawares,  for  when  a  posse,  pressed 
into  service  by  the  sheriff,  stopped  him  that  night  on 
the  street  with  an  order  to  throw  up  his  hands  he  was 
slower  than  ordinary  in  reaching  his  weapon. 

Two  of  the  deputies  shot  at  him,  and  a  bullet  strik- 
ing a  glancing  blow  on  the  head,  stunned  him.  When 
he  came  to  he  was  in  jail. 

The  bandit  got  a  short  shift  at  the  hands  of  a  Mor- 
mon judge  and  was  sentenced  to  ten  years  in  the 
penitentiary. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  35 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A   CHAINED   TIGER. 


The  rigor  of  prison  discipline  very  nearly  broke  the 
spirit  of  this  man  of  blood. 

Here,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  the  man  who  had 
hitherto  known  no  master,  was  subjected  to  the  orders 
and  commands  of  petty  public  servitors  clothed  in  a 
ittle  brief  authority,  upon  whom  in  the  days  of  free- 
dom he  would  not  have  wasted  a  bullet. 

The  lion  heart  of  the  man  rebelled.  His  first  breach 
of  discipline  occurred  within  an  hour  after  the  peniten- 
iary's  gates  clanged  behind  him. 

One  of  the  prison  officials  approached  him  and  or- 
dered him  in  a  brutal  tone  to  hold  up  his  head,  while 
le  hung  about  his  neck  the  insignia  of  his  degradation 
— a  plate  bearing  his  prison  number,  1313. 

As  Tracy's  eye  fell  upon  the  fateful  figures,  fateful 
at  least  from  the  standpoint  of  a  border  gambler,  such 
as  he  was,  Tracy's  usually  calm  expression  gave  way  to 
one  of  ferocity.  He  grabbed  the  tag  from  the  man's 
hand,  dashed  it  to  the  ground  and  spat  upon  it. 

An  instant  later  he  lay  unconscious  upon  the  stone 
floor,  striken  from  behind  by  clubs  in  the  hands  of  the 
guards. 

From  that  time  forth  he  was  branded  as  a  dangerous 
and  desperate  man  and  not  an  official  of  the  institution 


36  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

but  would  have  visited  the  most  extreme  punishmerr 
upon  him  with  slight  provocation. 

This  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  officials  was  enhancec 
as  they  gained  more  knowledge  of  the  ferocious  cun- 
ning of  the  man. 

"Shoot  him  in  his  tracks/'  was  the  order  given  b> 
the  warden,  in  the  event  that  Tracy  should  give  an> 
evidence  of  making  a  break  for  liberty.  Appreciating 
the  character  of  the  man,  he  was  kept  much  alone  b> 
the  authorities.  Especial  precautions  were  taken  tc 
keep  him  from  communicating  with  other  prisoners,  as 
it  was  feared  that  his  influence  might  lead  to  an  at- 
tempted outbreak. 

Two  years  of  this  sort  of  treatment  and  his  constant 
rebellion  against  it  left  Tracy  the  most  feared  as  he 
was  the  most  hated  man  in  the  prison.  And  it  pre- 
pared him  for  the  desperate  venture  that  at  last  gave 
him  his  liberty. 

One  day,  bleeding  and  torn  from  a  battle  with  the 
guards,  he  was  thrust  into  the  dungeon.  His  temper 
had  overcome  him  and  he  had  attempted  to  strike  a 
guard  who  addressed  a  brutal  epithet  to  him.  It  was 
no  new  experience  for  him,  this  sentence  to  the  dark 
cells.  And  the  heart  of  the  murderer  was  bitter  be- 
yond anything  he  had  felt  before. 

It  was  when  his  evening  portion  of  bread  and  water 
was  thrust  into  the  cell  that  he  heard  a  word  that  gave 
him  hope  for  the  first  time  since  his  incarceration.  He 
heard  a  guarded  "Hist"  at  the  hole  in  the  door  of  his 
cell. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  37 

Eagerly  he  bent  his  head  to  the  door.  Someone 
whispered : 

"Behave  yourself  and  get  out  of  this.  I  have  a  note 
for  you." 

And  he  lived  on  that  during  the  ten  days  of  his 
confinement  in  darkness.  The  day  he  was  returned  to 
the  light  cells,  he  found  this  note  in  the  dish  containing 
his  food.  . 

"Dear: — Did  you  think  I  would  forget?     I  have 
some  hope.    Do  nothing  rash.    I  have  secured  a  friend 
who  is  close  to  you.     Be  ready  to'take  your  chance 
5  when  it  comes  and  trust  the  man  who  gives  you  this. 
Expect  a  visitor  on  Thursday  next.    Destroy  this. 

"—'Genie/' 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that  he "  did  not 
destroy  the  note.  It  was  found  on  him  when  he  was 
arrested  years  after  in  Portland,  Ore. 

The  woman  who  asked  to  see  the  desperate  No. 
1313  the  following  Thursday  was  dressed  handsome- 
ly, but  in  deepest  black.  There  was  little  danger  that 
she  would  be  recognized  as  the  desperate  young  fel- 
low who  had  helped  Tracy  to  rob  the  mine  wagon. 

But  she  had  no  chance  to  do  anything  more  than  to 
encourage  him  by  her  looks — the  guards  were  too  fear- 
ful of  their  prisoner  to  give  him  a  chance  to  secure  a 
weapon  from  his  visitor. 

As  she  bade  him  goodbye  he  looked  steadily  into 
the  woman's  eyes  and  she  as  steadily  into  his — and 
Tracy  knew  that  the  day  of  his  liberation  was  at  hand. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  following  the  visit 
of  the  woman  the  warden  of  the  penitentiary  was 


38  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

served  with  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  requiring  him  to 
produce  Harry  Tracy  in  court  at  Provost. 

An  error  in  the  indictment  upon  which  the  man  had 
been  convicted  was  alleged  as  the  basis  for  an  inquiry 
by  the  court, 

The  papers  were  served  on  the  warden  by  a  sheriff 
from  Provo. 

"I  don't  propose  that  you  take  any  chances  on  tak- 
ing this  man  alone,"  said  the  warden. 

The  sheriff,  a  big  man  with  a  reputation  for  bravery 
that  bordered  on  hardihood,  grinned,  produced  a  pair 
of  leg-irons  and  hand-cuffs  and  pushed  back  his  cc 
far  enough  to  show  a  pair  of  guns  of  formidable  size. 

"I  think  they'll  hold  him  for  a  while,"  he  said. 

The  warden  insisted  on  sending"  a  guard.  Trac 
was  brought  into  the  warden's  office  and  told  that  he 
was  to  be  again  taken  to  court.  Forewarned  by  the 
interview  with  'Genie  that  something  was  about  to 
happen  the  convict  made  no  sign.  He  put  on  the  cheap 
gray  suit  that  the  sheriff  had  brought  with  him. 

There  was  some  delay  in  waiting  for  a  train,  and  it 
was  night  when  the  prisoner  was  put  into  a  wagon. 
He  was  hand  cuffed  and  as  soon  as  he  was  seated  the 
sheriff  snapped  the  leg-irons  on  him.  These  irons  were 
not  taken  off  and  the  prisoner  hobbled  across  the  plat- 
form to  the  train  when  they  arrived  at  the  station.  He 
was  taken  into  a  day  coach  which  was  deserted,  but  for 
a  sleeping  drummer  at  one  end. 

Immediately  after  the  sheriff  and  his  prisoner  board- 
ed the  train  a  man  and  woman  entered  the  car  from 
a  forward  coach. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  39 

The  sheriff  seated  his  prisoner  beside  the  window 
and  sat  on  the  seat  beside  him.  The  guard,  John 
Vairo,  sat  on  the  seat  facing  them. 

The  woman  who  came  in  seated  herself  behind  the 

fheriff,  the  man  behind  the  guard. 
The  woman  leaned  over  to  the  sheriff  and  said: 
"Is  the  poor  man  insane  ?" 

"No,  marm,"  grinned  the  sheriff,  "but  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  he  was  a  bit  mad/' 

'A  prisoner,  I  suppose/'  said  the  woman  looking 
with  interest  at  the  ironed  man,  who  had  closed  his 
eyes. 

"Yep,  an'  a  tough  one." 

"Dear  me,"  said  the  woman,  and  she  shrank  back. 
The  sheriff  was  not  averse  to  a  conversation  with  a 
pretty  woman  and  she  did  not  repulse  him.  The 
prisoner  paid  no  heed.  The  guard  answered  a  few 
questions  asked  by  the  man  who  sat  behind  him.  Then 
the  party  became  quiet  and  the  only  sound  in  the  coach 
was  that  made  by  the  roaring  of  the  train  wheels. 

A  stop  had  just  been  made  when  the  woman  looked 
intently  at  the  man  sitting  behind  the  guard.  At  the 
same  instant  the  two  bent  forward  but  not  in  a  manner 
ko  attract  attention.  The  woman  rested  her  hand  on 
khe  back  of  the  seat  in  which  the  sheriff  sat,  but  on 
khe  outside.  There  was  a  handkerchief  in  her  hand. 
tin  the  hand  of  the  man,  which  rested  within  ten  inches 
of  the  face  of  the  somnolent  guard  a  handkerchief  was 
clutched. 

In  a  moment  a  sickly  pungent  odor  reached  Tracy's 
Inostrils.  His  senses  were  keenly  alert  since  'Genie— 


40  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

for  it  was  she — had  begun  talking  to  the  sheriff  and  he 
knew  that  something  was  about  to  happen.  He  turned 
his  face  to  the  window. 

Neither  the  sheriff  nor  the  guard  paid  any  attention 
to  the  odor  and  made  no  attempt  to  throw  off  their 
drowsy  feeling  that  crept  over  them.  The  handker- 
chiefs were  advanced  closer  to  the  faces  of  the  two 
men,  and  suddenly  their  faces  were  clasped  by  the 
hands  holding  the  handkerchiefs. 

They  were  too  far  gone  to  resist  the  fumes  of  the 
chloroform  contained  in  the  sponges  concealed  by  the 
handkerchiefs.  They  became  unconscious. 

The  man  behind  the  guard  changed  his  seat  to  bring 
himself  into  a  position  facing  the  sheriff.  His  long, 
slender  fingers  were  not  three  seconds  locating  the 
sheriff's  keys.  In  a  half  minute  the  ornaments  had 
fallen  from  Tracy's  wrists. 

The  door  opened  and  the  party  fell  into  easy  posi- 
tions  as  the  brakeman  shouted  "Taraum  Junction"  in 
that  fashion  that  is  peculiar  to  some  of  them.  He 
closed  the  door.  Jack  bent  over  and  the  irons  fell 
from  Tracy's  feet. 

With  the  coolness  that  has  always  distinguished  him 
the  released  prisoner  picked  up  the  irons  and  snapped 
them  on  the  legs  of  the  sheriff.  "Jack"  clasped  the 
hand-cuffs  on  the  wrists  of  the  unconscious  guard. 
The  woman  leaned  over  and  kissed  Tracy  affectionate- 
ly as  the  train  began  to  slow  up. 

"I'll  take  the  rear  platform;  you  get  over  in  front 
where  the  brakeman  is,"  said  Tracy,  with  ready  wit. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


41 


The  man  and  woman  went  down  the  aisle  to  the  door 
that  the  brakeman  threw  open. 

Under  cover  of  their  forms  Tracy  got  up  and  walked 
to  the  rear  door.  As  the  man  and  woman  stepped  off 
the  platform  on  to  the  strip  of  plank  that  ran  along 
the  front  of  the  little  station  the  train  started  and  a 
figure  dropped  lightly  from  the  rear  steps. 

Harry  Tracy  was  free  again. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


WHAT  A  WOMAN  DARES. 

"We  will  go  somewhere  and  begin  all  over,  dear." 

"I'll  do  anything  you  say.  I  don't  believe  there  was 
ever  a  man  who  owed  so  much  to  a  woman  and  who 
did  so  little  for  her/' 

"But  that  trouble  at  Cripple  Creek  was  all  on  my 
account.  It  might  have  been  avoided  if  you  had  not 
been  mixed  with  those  gamblers,  or  if  they  had  known 
that  we  were  married  at  Leadville.  Now,  Harry, 
we'll  put  it  all  behind  us  and  start  life  in  a  new  land  on 
the  coast."  The  man  kissed  her  fondly. 

"I  must  get  to  work/'  he  said. 

"That  won't  be  necessary,  Harry,"  she  said.  "I  did 
not  go  broke  getting  that  writ  of  habeas  corpus."  She 
laughed. 

"You  must  be  rich,"  he  said. 

It  was  at  Carson,  Nevada,  a  month  after  the  escape 
from  the  Utah  sheriff  on  the  train.  Harry  Tracy  and 
'Genie  had  just  met  again. 

After  the  escape  they  had  separated.  The  woman 
going  to  the  east,  Tracy  and  Jack  Rawlins,  the  assist- 
ant in  the  escape,  taking  to  the  mountains.  They  had 
agreed  to  meet  at  Carson  as  soon  as  Tracy  thought  it 
safe  to  approach  a  railroad.  Rawlins  had  left  Tracy 
and  gone  north,  intending  to  make  his  way  into  Mon- 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  43 

tana.  Tracy  had  chanced  death  in  the  Utah  desert 
but  had  gotten  through.  He  was  a  week  later  than 
'Genie  in  reaching  Carson  but  she  had  waited  full  of 
confidence. 

She  had  the  confidence  of  the  wife.  She  knew 
Tracy's  nature  and  that  it  was  quite  possible  that  he 
might  give  her  up  if  he  were  not  "dependent  on  her. 
She  knew  that  the  marriage  that  he  had  proposed 
when  she  followed  him  to  Cripple  Creek  was  the  out- 
come of  a  burst  of  real  feeling,  such  as  the  man  was 
capable  of  at  times,  but  it  quite  satisfied  her. 
'  At  Carson  she  had  registered  at  a  hotel  as  Mrs. 
Warren,  and  watched  every  train.  This  morning  he 
came"  in.  He  was  well,  if  not  handsomely  dressed, 
his  hair  had  lost  the  prison  style,  his  moustache  and 
beard  were  growing.  He  looked  healthy,  and  the  two 
terrible  years  in  prison  had  neither  bowed  his  form 
nor  taken  the  elasticity  out  of  his  step. 

Under  his  eyes  there  were  lines  that  gave  his  face  a 
harsh  appearance  at  times.  His  hands  were  knotted 
and  calloused  from  the  hard  labor  of  the  prison. 

She  was  so  heartily  and  soulfully  glad  to  see  him 
she  cried  over  him  and  caressed  him.     And  he  was 
nearer  to  an  honest,  tender  affection  than  he  had  been ' 
since  they  parted  that  night — so  many  ages  ago,  it 
seemed — in  the  Ozarks. 

She  was  handsome,  as  a  happy  and  pretty  woman 
only  can  be.  She  had  improved  wonderfully  with  the 
years  and  was  fit  for  any  society,  so  far  as  appearance 
and  manner  went. 

"Tell  me  what  you've  been  doing  and  how  you 


44  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

managed  to  get  me  out  of  that  hell-hole."  His  face 
darkened  as  he  thought  of  the  prison. 

"Well/'  she  said,  caressing  his  roughened  hand, 
"I'll  go  back  to  the  beginning. 

"When  I  went  to  Denver  as  you  directed,  I  thought 
to  find  something  to  do  where  I  could  make  some 
money,  and  as  I  had  a  little  capital  I  was  looking  for 
a  little  business.  It  is  hard,  how  hard  no  one  knows 
better  than  I,  for  a  woman  without  training  to  find  an 
opening.  I  have  some  natural  taste  in  millinery  and 
I  found  a  place  that  was  for  sale.  I  bought  it,  though 
it  took  half  of  the  thousand  dollars,  and  then  I  sat 
down  and  waited  for  customers — and  you. 

"The  customers  came,  but  no  word  from  you.  I 
watched  the  papers  but  saw  nothing.  If  there  was 
anything  I  didn't  recognize  you  under  the  name  you 
gave.  It  was  heart-breaking.  A  thousand  times  I 
was  on  the  eve  of  giving  up  and  going  over  into 
Utah,  but  I  knew  if  you  were  free  you  would  not  be 
there.  I  did  not  dare  to  hire"anybody  to  inquire  for 
me. 

"In  the  meantime  I  made  a  friend.  It  was  a  Mrs. 
Watson,  a  widow  who  came  as  a  customer.  I  pleased 
her  and  we  became  friends.  She  was  rich  and  had 
money  in  mining  investments  that  were  making  her 
richer.  She  induced  me  to  give  her  what  money  I 
had  saved.  This  was  almost  a  year  after  I  left  you 
alone. 

"Our  salvation  came  out  of  Cripple  Creek,  Harry, 
for  she  invested  my  money  in  some  mine  up  there  and 
one  day  told  me  I  was  worth  $6,000.  Then  I  decided 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  45 

that  I  would  look  for  you.  I  was  certain  that  you  had 
not  been  in  Denver,  for  there  was  a  letter  at  the  gen- 
eral delivery,  sent  regularly  every  week,  and  I  saw 
they  were  always  advertised. 

"One  day  my  luck  came  to  me.  I  saw  Jack  Rawlins 
on  the  street.  I  knew  you  had  helped  him  out  in 
Cripple  Creek.  He  looked  as  though  he  was  down  on 
his  luck  and  I  trusted"  him.  I  was  safe  enough.  He 
was  willing  to  befriend  you,  and  he  needed  money. 

"He  went  to  Provo  and  in  a  week  I  knew  what  your 
awful  fate  had  been. 

"It  took  months  to  reach  you.  My  letters  were  sent 
back  to  Rawlins,  and  he  was  told  that  such  a  refractory 
prisoner  as  you  were  had  no  privileges. 

"I  made  up  my  mind  to  try  myself.  I  had  made 
more  money  than  it  had  cost  to  provide  for  Jack's 
work.  There  is  no  use  going  over  all  the  heart-break- 
ing rebuffs  I  met  with.  It  seemed  that  an  escape  was 
out  of  the  question.  Then  I  had  an  inspiration.  I 
knew  that  if  once  you  could  get  outside  of  those  walls 
you  could  contrive — or  we  would  for  you — to  keep 
you  out. 

"I  sent  Rawlins  to  the  best  lawyer  to  be  found, 
gave  him  a  big  retainer  and  told  him  to  go  into  the 
case. 

"He  said  that  in  their  hurry  to  get  you  into  the 
penitentiary  they  had  found  you  guilty  of  a  crime  of 
greater  degree  than  that  for  which  you  were  indicted, 
and  he  had  no  doubt  that  you  could  be  got  out  on  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  but  that  the  prospects  of  your 
going  back  were  great. 


46 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT. 


rds, 

* 


"I  sent  Rawlins  to  negotiate  with  one  of  your  guards, 
for  I  wanted  to  warn  you.  I  got  a  request  from  a  high 
official  to  permit  me  to  see  you. 

"And  now  you  know  the  rest." 

"You're  a  wonder,  'Genie,"  he  said.  'Til  devote 
my  life  to  repaying  you." 

"I  am  repaid  now,  dear,"  she  said,  simply.  "And 
I  paid  one  debt  for  you.  I  sent  back  the  money  we 
took  from  the  Yellow  Lode  wagon.  I  wanted  to  get 
that  hold-up  off  my  conscience."  She  blushed  and 
smiled. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  4Z 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


RESPECTABILITY — EVIL    ASSOCIATES    ANOTHER    REFORM. 


Tracy  had  here  arrived  at  the  turning  point  of  his 
career.  But  on  his  soul  there  was  the  stain  of  blood, 
and  he  must  have  found  it  hard  to  avoid  the  pursuit 
of  conscience — though  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was 
troubled  much  by  scruples. 

The  movements  of  the  couple  after  leaving  Carson 
City  are  not  clearly  defined.  Some  few  months  after- 
wards Tracy  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  Portland, 
Ore.  They  had  been  moving  from  place  to  place 
about  the  coast  in  an  apparently  aimless  way. 

Tracy  was  unfitted  for  any  regular  respectable  oc- 
cupation, both  by  early  training  and  the  life  he  had 
pursued  since  leaving  the  paternal  home.  The  transi- 
tion from  the  condition  of  a  boy  whose  moral  training 
had  been  neglected  no  less  than  other  schooling  which 
makes  a  man  dependent  upon  himself  and  equips  him 
for  the  battle  of  life. 

Lacking  moral  courage  he  had  chosen  to  run  away 
rather  than  face  the  accusation  which  confronted  him 
in  Missouri.  Naturally  embittered  he  roamed  about 
avoiding  pursuit  that  might  have  been  merely 
imaginary. 

It  was  a  spirit  of  desperation  that  nerved  him  for  his 
first  crime  when  lie  robbed  the  campers  on  the  banks 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  49 

of  the  Missouri.  His  easy  escape  from  punishment  for 
that  offense  prepared  him  to  live  by  preying  on  his 
fellows.  It  might  not  be  just  to  say  that  he  deliberate- 
ly sought  a  life  of  crime  at  that  time,  but  it  is  very 
certain  that  he  might  have  found  opportunity  to  gain 
an  honest  livelihood  had  he  the  inclination. 

Consorting  with  men  whose  object  in  life  was  to 
get  a  living  by  their  wits,  if  possible,  by  violence  if 
necessary,  he  had  attained  to  that  state  of  mind  in 
which  the  moral  sense  is  entirely  lost. 

There  was  no  element  of  cupidity  in  the  acts  of  vio- 
lence which  he  had  committed  at  the  expense  of  human 
life.  Still,  he  had  tasted  blood,  had  been  rendered 
ferociously  desperate  by  the  punishment  which  society 
meted  to  him,  and  this  was  his  condition  of  mind 
when  he  and  'Genie  found  themselves  in  a  state  of 
comparative  affluence,  and  well  able  to  make  an  effort 
to  realize  her  woman's  dream  of  a  better  life. 

They  lived  upon  the  border  land  of  respectability, 
but  he  had  no  capacity  to  turn  his  undoubted  energy  to 
account  in  a  legitimate  field.  In  Portland  he  was  soon 
seen  in  company  with  those  men  who  ask  no  questions 
of  their  fellows  and  require  no  vouchers  for  morality. 

He  spent  his  nights  largely  in  gambling.  His  days 
in  recuperating  the  energies  wasted  at  the  gaming 
table.  'Genie  found  herself  alone  and  much  neg- 
lected, but  his  obligations  to  her  were  apparently 
lost  sight  of  in  the  face  of  the  attraction  he  found 
among  his  new  associates.  As  their  money  began 
to  dwindle  'Genie's  complaints  against  his  manner  of 
life  and  demands  that  he  make  good  his  promise  of 


50  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

reform  and  occupy  himself  in  some  business  had  sotitt 
effect  and  he  proposed  that  they  try  farming  anf 
ranching  in  the  Wyoming  mountains. 

The  woman  would  have  been  delighted  to  spend 
her  life  in  the  wilderness  with  him  and  gladly  con 
sented  that  he  should  go  into  the  new  undertaking 
They  still  had  some  money  when  they  made  thei: 
way  into  the  mountains  again  and  crossed  to  Spokane 

The  original  plan  for  going  into  the  ranching 
business  was  abandoned  here  under  the  influence  ofj 
some  associates  of  Tracy,  who  told  him  how  money 
might  be  made  easily  4n  the  mining  camps  along  the 
Kootenai  river  north  of  the  American  boundary. 

Shortly  afterwards  he  had  a  saloon  in  a  camp  onj 
boundary  creek.     The  place  was  filled  with  a  rougnj 
class  of  miners  who  had  plenty  of  money,  an  unquench-j| 
able  thirst  and  an  appetite  for  gambling.     'Genie  was;] 
the  only  woman  in  the  place,  and  she  protested  sc|!| 
vigorously  against  the  manner  of  life  to  which  shdjj 
was  condemned  that  he  sent  her  to  Spokane  with  a  1 
promise  to  follow  her  as  soon  as  he  could  get  rid  OE| 
his   saloon. 

How  well  this  promise  of  another  reform  wag] 
kept  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was  driven  out  o£|| 
the  British  possessions  by  a  posse  of  miners  whoj 
were  desirous  of  hanging  him.  His  particular  offense! 
is  not  known  but  it  was  charged  that  he  was  the  di-' 
rector  of  a  band  of  ruffians  who  held  up  and  looted! 
a  barge  upon  which  some  returning  prospectors  werej 
bringing  back  from  the  mines  on  Lake  Kootenai  the; 
dust  they  had  accumulated. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


51 


One  night  Tracy,  who  was  sleeping  in  the  loft  above 
ic  saloon,  was  aroused  by  the  clamors  of  an  angry 
lob  in  front  of  the  log  structure  in  which  the  saloon 
as  located.  He  called  out  through  a  crack,  inquiring : 
"What's  the  matter  with  you  fellows?" 
"Come  out  and  we'll  show  you,"  shouted  half  a 
ozen  men  in  chorus. 

"If  you  don't  get  a  move  on  you,"  returned  Tracy, 
there'll  be  some  shooting  down  here." 
The  reply  was  a  fusillade  of  shots;  the  bullets  speed- 
ig  harmlessly,  but  with  vicious  notes  against  the  log 
alls  of  the  shanty.    The  fire  was  returned  by  Tracy 
ind  at  least  one  man  who  was  with  him  and  two  of 
he  crowd  of  miners  were  wounded. 

This  was  one  of  the  rare  occasions  when  the  des- 
perado thought  discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of  valor 
md  while  the  mob  in  front  conferred  as  to  the  best 
cans  for  dislodging  him  and  his  party,  Tracy  made 
is  escape  from  the  rear  and  got  clear  across  the 
undary, 


52  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  HORSE  THIEVES'  RENDEZVOUS. 


Tracy's  stay  in  Spokane  was  very  brief.  It  may  have 
been  that  he  had  a  wholesome  horror  of  Canadian 
justice.  But  whatever  the  inspiring  cause  he  took  av 
camp  equipment,  a  team  of  horses  and  a  wagon  and' 
started  alone  with  'Genie  to  the  southeast. 

Their  journey  lay  through  a  frightfully  wild 
country,  but  some  weeks  later  they  reached  Lewis- 
ton,  Idaho.  That  they  had  been  in  sore  straits  was 
evidenced  by  the  condition  of  their  horses  and  'Genie's 
state  of  health.  Hardships  and  the  constant  wearing 
on  her  spirit,  had  broken  down  her  vigor.  They 
did  not  remain  in  Lewiston  and  it  was  thought  by 
those  who  afterwards  recalled  the  appearance  of  the 
man  and  woman  that  they  might  have  been  fleeing 
from  some  pursuit. 

They  went  over  into  the  Snake  river  country  and 
there  settled  upon  a  ranch  that  had  been  abandoned. 
The  place  was  in  a  valley  and  on  the  north  and  south 
a  rich  farming  and  grazing  country  spread  out.  Tracy 
was  soon  followed  to  the  ranch  by  a  number  of  men 
who  were  strangers  in  the  country.  Neither  'Genie 
nor  Tracy  sought  any  acquaintance  among  the  settlers 
in  the  neighborhood  and  they  and  their  associates 
were  natural  objects  of  suspicion  when  it  became 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  53 

evident  that  an  organized  band  of  horse  thieves  was 
Derating  in  the  country  north  of  Walla  Walla. 

The  farmers  and  ranchmen  organized  a  vigilance 
|committee  to  search  for  the  horse  thieves  and  the 
[suspicions  of  the  members  of  this  committee  were  at 
(once  fixed  upon  the  ranch  occupied  by  Tracy  and 
(made  a  rendezvous  by  his  strange  visitors. 

The  vigilance  committee  sent  word  to  the  Tracy 
farm  that  it  might  be  to  the  interest  of  the  occupants 
[to  find  a  fresh  fielgl  for  their  endeavors.  No  notice 
was  taken  of  this  and  Tracy  constantly  appeared  in 
the  little  towns  in  the  Snake  river  valley,  sometimes 
alone,  again  accompanied  by  Mike  Morgan  and  Sam 
Wallace,  both  of  whom  were  reputed  horse  thieves  at 
that  time  and  who  are  now  serving  sentences  in  the 
Idaho  penitentiary. 

Whether  alone  or  in  company,  Tracy  was  rarely 
molested  when  he  apepared  in  public  and  he  went 
about  with  absolute  impunity,  until  the  depredations  of 
the  gang  with  which  he  was  associated  compelled  the 
farmers  and  horse  owners  to  act  in  force.  The  de- 
serted ranch  which  they  had  taken  up  appears  to 
have  been  an  ideal  situation  for  the  headquarters  of 
a  gang  of  horse  thieves.  It  was  located  at  the  east 
end  of  a  long  and  lonely  valky,  lying  between  pre- 
cipitous hills  that  were  threaded  by  defiles  leading 
over  into  Idaho.  The  house,  a  long,  low  log  building, 
was  divided  into  four  rooms,  its  rear  end  resting 
against  an  overhanging  wall  of  rock  that  was  alto- 
gether inaccessible. 
The  house  was  surrounded  by  a  sort  of  stockade, 


54  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

which  had  been  build  for  a  corral,  and  out  of  this  le 
a  path  through  a  ravine  running  down  to  the  Snak 
river.  The  place  could  only  be  approached  from  i: 
front. 

Stolen  horses  had  been  clearly  traced  to  the  ren 
dezvous  and  their  owners  in  following  them  hac 
occasionally  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  woman  about  th 
house.  On  the  fourth  of  September,  1896,  the  vigi 
ance  committee  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  tim 
to  find  out  just  what  was  hidden  behind  the  stockac 
surrounding  the  Tracy  house — though  it  is  possib 
that  Morgan  and  Wallace  might  have  been  mor 
properly  regarded  as  occupants  of  the  place.  If  the 
did  occupy  it  first,  certain  it  is  that  Tracy  asserted  th 
rights  of  leadership  soon  after  his  arrival. 

It  was  near  noon  when  four  men  rode  up  the  valle 
and  stopped  at  the  barred  entrance  to  the  corral.  Jame 
McEwen,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  group  of  horse 
men,  called  out  to  the  people  in  the  house.     There 
was  no  person  in  sight,  but  a  dozen  horses  were  gath- 
ered in  one  corner  of  the  yard. 

In  response  to  McEwen's  shout,  a  man— Wallace — 
appeared  on  the  door  step  and  asked  what  was  wanted. 

"We'd  like  to  have  a  look  at  that  bunch  of  horses/' 
said  McEwen. 

"Well,  if  you  think  you  can  jump  that  fence  and 
get  away  again,  you're  welcome  to  have  a  look,"  said 
Wallace,  "but  I'd  advise  you  to  keep  off  my  place." 

For  answer  McEwen  dismounted  and  proceeded  to 
take  down  the  corral  bars.  Wallace  stepped  back  into 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  55 

ie  house  and  presently  reappeared  with  a  rifle  in  his 
land.    He  pointed  the  gun  at  McEwen  and  said : 
"If  you  fellows  are  out  of  shooting  distance  in  two 
linutes  you  won't  get  hurt.     Now  get/' 
Behind  him  could  be  seen  the  forms  of  two  men  and 
woman,  who  appeared  to  be  pleading  with  them. 
McEwen   and   his   companions   had  no   arms   but 
ivolvers  and  one  shot  gun.    They  made  no  parley,  but 
[cEwen,  jumping  on  his  horse,  led  the  way  down  the 
ralley. 

Wallace,  in  recounting  what  took  place  that  day  and 
light,  said  that  Tracy's  wife  pleaded  and  begged  with 
them  all  day  to  leave  the  place.     Both  Wallace  and 
Morgan  wanted  to  take  the  horses  and  make  a  run  for 
it. 

"The  jig's  up,"  said  Morgan.  "Those  fellows  will 
get  a  gang  and  clean  us  out  any  way." 

Tracy  was-  stubborn  and  swore  a  horrible  oath  that 
he  could  kill  all  the  farmers  who  could  crowd  into 
the  valley  before  the  house.  He  repulsed'  'Genie 
rudely  when  she  pleaded  with  him  and  told  her  there 
was  no  danger  that  she  would  get  into  trouble  at 
any  event. 

"She  was  sick  at  the  time,"  said  Wallace  afterwards, 
"and  if  I  didn't  think  she'd  try  to  revenge  it  on  me 
I'd  have  taken  a  shot  at  Tracy  myself  and  made  a 
getaway." 

Toward  evening  the  desperado  got  into  a  better 
frame  of  mind  and  preparations  were  made  to  leave 
the  place  that  night.  Before  the  preparations  were 
completed,  Morgan  happened  to  look  down  the  valley 


56  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

and  saw  a  party  of  a  dozen  mounted  men  riding  up 
towards  the  house. 

"It's  too  late  now,  anyway,"  said  Tracy,  and  he 
began  to  lay  cartridges  out  where  they  would  be  handy. 

Tracy  wanted  to  take  a  shot  at  the  approaching  band 
of  horsemen  before  there  was  any  parley,  but  from 
this  he  was  dissuaded  by  his  companions,  though  his 
rejoinder  to  their  arguments  was : 

"Lemme  take  a  few  shots  and  there  won't  be  so 
many  of  them  left  for  the  rag-chewin'  match." 

McEwen  was  at  the  head  of  the  posse.  He  appears 
to  have  been  an  entirely  fearless  man,  for  while  his 
followers  dismounted  and  were  protected  by  the  corral 
fence,  he  rode  straight  up  to  the  bars  and  shouted: 

"If  you  fellows  will  come  out  and  surrender  you'll 
be  treated  square  and  it'll  save  trouble  for  somebody." 

For  answer  Tracy  pushed  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle 
through  a  window  and  shot  the  horse  from  under 
him. 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  57 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  BATTLE — GENIE  S  DEATH. 

When  the  members  of  the  posse  saw  McEwen  fall 
with  his  horse  they  concluded  that  their  leader  had 
been  shot.  Eleven  rifles  and  shotguns  were  thrust 
through  the  corral  fence  and  a  hail  of  bullets  pattered 
against  the  walls  of  the  house,,  doing  no  damage, 
however. 

The  occupants  of  the  house  retired  to  the  second 
room  at  the  rear  and  shot  from  that  point  of  vantage 
at  the  men  outside.  The  shots  were  aimed  through 
the  windows  and  struck  harmless  against  the  fence 
generally.  The  return  fire  was  quite  as  ineffectual 
and  was  altogether  at  random,  as  the  members  of  the 
posse  were  generally  peaceable  farmers  not  much  used 
to  firearms. 

Tracy  amused  himself  by  picking  off  the  horses. 
When  one  threw  its  head  up  above  the  cover  of  the 
corral  stockade  it  fell  a  victim  to  that  unerring  aim 
which  rarely  failed  of  hitting  a  mark. 

The  men  retired  with  their  horses  and  placed  the 
animals  in  safety  in  one  of  the  defiles  leading  out  of 
the  valley. 

Then  they  crawled  back  and  prepared  for  a  siege. 
There  were  a  number  of  shots  exchanged  and  two 
men,  Morris  and  McGrath,  of  the  posse  were  wounded. 


58  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

When  darkness  descended  on  the  scene  the  valley 
was  quite  peaceful  and  both  sides  were  waiting  de- 
velopments. 

The  horse  thieves  were  prepared  for  flight.  They 
were  quite  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  members  of 
the  posse  were  ignorant  of  the  means  of  egress  from 
the  stockade  by  the  side  of  the  houses  and  through 
the  hills  to  the  banks  of  the  Snake  river. 

'Genie,  who  had  been  very  quiet  since  the  first  shot 
was  fired,  went  about  the  house,  making  up  bundles 
of  food  and  clothing.  More  than  once  Tracy,  whose 
mood  had  changed,  spoke  to  her  affectionately  and 
offered  a  caress,  to  which  she  submitted  without  re- 
sponse. 

Fortune  had  favored  the  outlaws  in  that  when  the 
firing  begun  the  horses  had  stampeded  from  the  open 
corral  and  were  grouped  in  the  defile  alongside  of  the 
house. 

It  was  dark  but  for  the  shimmering  radiance  of  a 
moon  which  hung  too  low  in  the  sky  to  cast  much 
light.  There  had  been  no  stir  in  the  house.  Not  a 
shot  had  been  fired  for  a  half  hour,  when,  of  a  sudden, 
the  quiet  of  the  night  was  shattered  by  a  discharge  that 
was  so  rapid  and  well  sustained  that  it  sounded  like 
a  fire  of  a  company  of  men.  The  windows  of  the 
house  blazed  with  flashes  from  the  guns  and  pistols 
of  the  men  within.  Then  after  a  few  scattering  shots 
from  the  posse  it  was  still  again. 

A  movement  among  the  horses  in  the  defile  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  members  of  the  posse. 
McEwen  suspected  that  a  sortie  might  be  attempted 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  59 

but  he  did  nothing  but  warn  the  men  to  be  on  the 
lookout. 

The  horse  thieves  were  saddling  their  horses.  When 
they  were  saddled  Wallace  undertook  to  lead  them 
quietly  through  the  defile;  they  were  to  mount  when 
they  were  on  better  footing. 

Tracy  and  'Genie  were  the  last  to  leave  the  house. 

He  was  between  her  and  the  front  of  the  stockade 
and  they  were  both  well  out  of  range  when  the 
horses,  which  remained  unsaddled,  became  frightened 
and  dashed  into  the  open. 

Instantly  the  men  on  watch  in  front  fired  a  volley. 

'Genie  trembled  and  became  a  dead  weight  on 
Tracy's  arm.  A  bullet  had  found  its  billet  in  her  back, 
cutting  through  Harry's  clothing'*  and  striking  her 
under  the  left  shoulder. 

She  recovered  and  threw  her  arm  over  Tracy's  neck. 

"Are  you  hurt?"  he  asked. 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  she  said. 

"May  God  forgive  me  and  help  me  if  anything  hap- 
pens to  you,"  said  the  man. 

He  picked  her  up  and  ran  lightly  along  the  defile. 
After  a  few  yards  he  stopped  and  laid  her  down  gently. 
The  savage  and  revengeful  side  of  his  nature  over- 
came in  that  moment  when  he  was  more  deeply  touched 
than  ever  in  his  life  perhaps. 

He  rushed  back  into  the  open  and  emptied  his  re- 
volvers in  the  direction  of  the  men  who  lay  behind  the 
fence.  McEwen  who  had  stood  up  to  see  what  was 
going  on  was  shot  through  the  left  shoulder. 

When  he  went  back  to  'Genie  she  was  lying  very 


60  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

still.  The  other  two  men  stood  by  the  horses  a  few 
feet  away. 

"I  can't  see,  Harry,"  she  said. 

He  picked  her  up  very  gently  and  carried  her  to 
the  mouth  of  the  defile,  where  the  frowning  walls 
could  not  altogether  shut  out  the  faint  light. 

"Can  you  bear  to  lie  in  my  arms  and  ride?"  he 
asked. 

She  smiled  and  shook  her  head.  He  put  her  on  the 
turf  and  folded  his  coat  under  her  head. 

Her  eyes  closed  and  he  thought  she  was  dead. 

"  'Genie,"  he  whispered,  kissing  her  cheek.  The 
"chill  of  it  shocked  him. 

She  suddenly  looked  up  at  him. 

"I  know  you'll  be  sorry  now,"  she  said.  "I  mean 
because  I  am  gone.  Kiss  me." 

He  bent  over  her.  She  tried  to  reach  his  face  with 
her  hand  but  had  not  the  strength.  A  shudder  went 
through  her,  the  blood  gushed  from  her  mouth  in  a 
torrent.  She  was  dead. 

"You  might  as  well  come  on,"  said  Wallace  after  a 
few  minutes;  "We  can't  do  any  good  now."  Tracy 
looked  at  him- for  a  moment  as  though  he  was  minded 
to  take  his  revenge  then.  But  he  only  replied : 

"Leave  me  a  horse  and  you  two  get  out  of  here." 

And  they  left  him  with  the  dead  woman  who  had 
given  up  her  life  and  all  that  a  woman  holds  de*ar  to 
him. 

Perhaps  he  wept  there  alone  with  the  dead.  Perhaps 
he  was  made  the  worse  man  by  reason  of  what  hap- 
pened that  night.' 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


61 


It  was  near  morning  when  he  carried  her  back 
through  the  defile  and  laid  her  in  the  empty  house. 
Then  he  went  out  and  rode  away. 


62 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XL 


THE  "DOUBLE  CROSS" — THE  DUEL. 


If  'Genie  in  her  life  had  not  been  able  to  exert 
much  influence  for  good  over  Tracy,  her  death  seems 
to  have  removed  the  last  restraint  that  was  imposed 
upon  him. 

He  was  not  a  man  to  parade  his  feelings  under  any 
circumstances,  and  when  he  appeared  in  Lewiston  with 
Wallace  and  Morgan  he  gave  no  evidence  of  the  scene 
he  had  passed  through  the  night  of  his  wife's  death. 

He  was  never  much  given  to  drink  up  to  that  time, 
but  their  arrival  in  the  Idaho  town  was  followed  by  a 
debauch  that  at  first  amused,  then  astonished,  and 
finally  drove  that  portion  of  the  population  with  which 
they  came  in  contact  to  desperation. 

Lewiston  at  that  time  had  got  past  the  stage  wh 
it  was  permitted  to  the  rough  element  from  the  su 
.rounding  country  to  ride  in  and  shoot  "up  the  town. 
The  horse  thieves  seem  to  have  been  under  no  appr 
hension  with  regard  to  pursuit.    They  were  all  in  f un 
and  all  proceeded  to  fill  themselves  with  that  sort  o 
liquor  which  would  "soonest  bring  the  drunk" 

The  second  night  after  their  arrival  they  initiated 
the  exploit  that  resulted  in  Tracy  being  driven  out  of 
town  and  the  capture  of  Wallace  and  Morgan.  An 
army  paymaster,  traveling  with  an  escort  of  two  men, 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  63 

was  regaling  himself  in  a  saloon,  up  to  which  the 
three  men  rode  just  after  dark. 

The  place  was  one  of  those  peculiar  to  western 
towns.  It  was  in  one  of  the  row  of  single  story  build- 
ings, bunched  close  together,  as  though  land  were  not 
the  cheapest  commodity  in  the  country.  The  place 
might  have  been  one  hundred  feet  deep.  Along  one 
side,  for  forty  feet  inside  the  door,  ran  the  bar — a 
glittering  line  of  crystal  and  polished  wood.  The 
rear  end  of  the  room  was  lined  along  all  three  walls 
by  tables,  at  which  those  games  of  chance  in  which 
the  westerner  most  rejoices  when  he  is  taking  his 
recreation,  were  being  played.  When  Tracy  and  his 
friends  entered  the  place  the  man  of  war  was  discussing 
his  tenth  cocktail.  He  had  gotten  to  that  stage  when 
what  he  most  desired,  aside  from  more  cocktails,  was 
listeners,  and  to  the  end  that  this  want  of  his  might 
be  satisfied  he  had  invited  several  of  the  hangers-on 
about  the  place,  including  a  couple  of  "busted"  gamb- 
lers, to  join  him.  Tracy's  companions  were  boisterous. 
Tracy  himself,  gravely  drunk. 

"Whoop-ee !"  shrieked  Wallace. 

"Whoop !"  echoed  Morgan. 

"You  fellows  shut  up  and  come  have  a  drink,"  in- 
terposed Tracy.  "Give  everybody  a  drink." 

The  army  man  remarked  that  he  was  buying  a  drink 
and  wanted  to  know  if  the  trio  wouldn't  join  him. 
Tracy,  with  drunken  gravity  and  politeness,  amiably 
insisted  that  the  pleasure  must  be  his.  The  man  of 
war,  quite  as  politely  and  in  language  quite  as  fervent, 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  65 

insisted  that  the  pleasure  must  be  his.  Tracy  gave 
way  and  the  paymaster  bought  the  drink. 

Tracy  and  the  army  officer  entered  into  an  amiable 
conversation.  In  the  course  of  an  hour  both  were 
quite  mellow.  At  the  expiration  of  the  same  period 
Wallace  and  Morgan  were  extremely  drunk.  They 
wandered  out  of  the  place,  forgetting  Tracy.  He  had 
alien  into  a  conversation  with  one  of  the  gamblers 
who  had  been  drinking  with  the  "Colonel/'  as  they 
dubbed  the  officer. 

Standing  close  to  Tracy's'  ear,  the  gambler  said 
[uietly : 

"You  seem  to  have  him  hooked  on,  all  right.  Pro- 
ose  a  game  of  pitch  and  then  I'll  cut  it  up  with  you." 

Tracy  looked  at  the  man  and  then  nodded  silently. 
rive  minutes  later  they  were  sitting  at  a  round  table 
n  the  lower  corner  of  the  room  and  the  "Colonel" 
vas  dealing  in  a  three-iianded  game  of  pitch  for  "Five 
lollars  a  corner  and  five  dollar  set  ups."  Tracy  grew 
teadily  sober  and  the  "Colonel"  more  complacently 
Irunk.  In  three  hours'  play  the  "Colonel"  was  the 
oser  of  $400  and  the  party  moved  back  to  the  bar. 
The  gambler  had  the  money  and  whispered  to  Tracy : 

"I'll  cut  it  up  with  you  when  we  get  a  chance." 

Tracy  nodded  and  shortly  afterwards  went  out  to 
ielp  his  friend  the  "Colonel"  to  a  hotel. 

Tracy  returned  alone  presently,  went  to  the  bar  and 
odded  to  "Shang"  Warfield,  the  gambler,  who  had 
ssisted  in  the  plucking  of  the  "Colonel."  Warfield 
aid  no  attention  to  the  nod  and  Tracy  walked  to 
vhere  he  was  standing. 


66  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

"Isn't  it  time  for  you  and  I  to  do  some  business  ?*| 
the  bar-tender  heard  him  say. 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  said  the  gamble^ 

Tracy's  face  turned  purple  with  rage  and  h| 
reached  for  a  weapon,  with  the  remark:  "Then  I'll 
show  you." 

At  the  same  instant  Warfield  reached  for  his  gun 
and  dodged  down  behind  the  end  of  the  bar,  'nea 
which  he  was  standing.  As  Tracy  drew  his  weapon 
he  sprang  back,  then  fired  through  the  woodwork  oi 
the  bar.  The  shot  rang  simultaneously  with  the  cry 
of  the  bar-keeper :  "Heads,"  and  he  dodged  for  cove! 
himself. 

The  fifty  or  more  men  playing  at  the  tables  in  thi 
rear  split  checks,  cards  and  layouts  in  a  scramble  to 
get  out  of  range.  Tracy  had  backed  very  nearly  to 
the  door,  when  Warfield  suddenly  straightened  ulj 
and  fired  five  shots  as  fast  as  he  could  pull  the  trig^ 
ger,  at  Tracy,  who  stood  quite  unmoved  until  the 
other's  weapon  was  empty,  when  he  fired  deliberateljj 
and  shot  the  gambler  through  the  throat. 

It  all  took  place  so  quickly  that  there  had  been  nl 
time  for  a  crowd  to  gather  at  the  door  and  Tract 
walked  out  unhindered,  mounted  his  horse  and  Lewis 
ton  saw  him  no  more. 

When  the  the  city  marshal  had  been  quite  satisfielj 
that  Warfield  was  killed  in  a  manner  which  migh|| 
have  been  justifiable  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  might  1 
as  well  to  look  up  Tracy's  companions. 

When  Morgan  and  Wallace  recovered  from  the 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  57 

Debauch  they  found  themselves  in  the  calaboose,  and  a 
:ouple  of  days  later  were  identified  as  the  horse 
hieves  who  were  wanted  in  the  Walla  Walla  country. 
There  were  warrants  for  horse  stealing  against  them  in 
various  parts*  of  Idaho.  They  were  sentenced  to 
erms  of  ten  years  each  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 


68  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


HUNTED  BY  ARAPAHOES. 


Leaving  behind  him  a  trail  of  crime,  made  lurid 
here  and  there  by  bloodshed,  Tracy  made  his  waj 
during  the  next  year  through  Idaho,  into  Oregon  and 
back  across  Idaho  and  Wyoming  to  the  Wind  river 
mountains,  where  he  arrived  and  went  into  camp  with 
a  band  of  men,  hunted  and  outlawed  like  himself,  in 
the  fall  of  1897. 

There  is  little  record  of  this  era  of  his  career.  No 
deed  of  sufficient  magnitude  nor  of  impressive  vio- 
lence to  gain  a  place  in  history  is  recorded  against 
him.  Consorting  sometimes  with  thieves,  posing  at 
all  times  as  a  gambler,  drinking  more  than  at  any 
other  period  in  his  life,  he  led  a  vagabond  existence 
not  unlike  that  of  the  other  men  with  whom  he  asso- 
ciated except  that  it  is  not  known  of  him  that  he 
worked  anywhere  at  any  time. 

It  was  with  a  company  of  men,  desperate  like  him- 
self, though  differing  from  the  dregs  of  the  border 
town  with  which  he  had  been  mixed,  that  he  went  into 
camp  in  the  Arapahoe  country  that  fall.  There  were 
five  in  the  party.  Two  had  lived  in  the  same  lo- 
cality some  two  years  before  and  told  alluring  stories 
of  the  easy  life  they  had  le'd  and  the  money  that 


TRACY,   THE   BANBIT.  69, 

might  be  made  preying  on  the  riches  of  the  Arapahoes 
and  Shoshones  in  cattle  and  horses. 

Perhaps  the  most  alluring  feature  of  the  country, 
and  that  which  most  appealed  to  Tracy  was  the  safety 
that  was  guaranteed  from  pursuit  by  officers  of  the 
law.  It  does  not  seem  that  the  men  had  formed  a 
band  for  horse  and  cattle  thieving  purposes,  particu- 
larly, but  while  there  was  no  specific  agreement  it  was 
generally  understood  that  they  would  not  waste  their 
time  in  case  opportunity  presented  itself  for  running 
off  horse  flesh. 

The  experience  gained  during  that  fall  and  winter 
contributed  to  make  Tracy  the  dead  shot  that  he  was  at 
the  close  of  his  career  with  rifle  and  revolver.  He 
hunted  much  and  it  was  said  of  him  that  he  could  kill 
a  squirrel  at  fifty  yards  by  cutting  the  creature's  throat 
with  a  rifle  bullet.  He  lived  a  wild-fire  life  out  of 
doors,  and  being  deprived  of  the  indulgences  of  the 
border  towns,  he  became  the  perfect  physical  animal 
that  he  remained  until  the  end. 

He  is  described  by  Samuel  W.  Allis,  of  Rawlins,  who 
saw  him  in  the  winter  of  '97-'98,  as  a  fine  looking  man, 
apparently  well  under  thirty,  though  he  must  have 
been  at  least  that  age. 

"When  I  met  Tracy,  it  was  at  the  Arapahoe  agency 
in  the  winter  of  1898,"  said  Allis.  "He  was  a  tall, 
well  proportioned,  fresh  looking  young  man  of  27  or 
thereabouts.  He  and  three  other  men  had  come  down 
from  the  north  across  the  reservation  with  some  In- 
dians to  get  supplies  at  the  trader's}  store.  They 
seemed  to  be  on  excellent  terms  with  the  Arapahoes. 


70  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

"Tracy,  who  was  variously  called  by  that  name  and 
Warren,  was  full  of  spirits  and  on  one  occasion  was 
quite  full  of  strong  spirits,  but  he  did  not  appear  in  the 
least  quarrelsome.  I  was  astonished  at  the  stories  that 
his  companion  told  of  his  wild  life  and  the  ferocity  of 
his  nature,  when  he  was  aroused.  That  he  was  utterly 
unscrupulous  I  was  made  to  see  by  the  manner  in 
which  he  would  fleece  the  Indians  in  trading  and  in 
taking  advantage  of  their  gambling  games;  but  up  to 
that  time  he  had  done  no  harm  on  the  reservation,  and 
it  was  thought  better  to  leave  him  and  his  friends  alone 
than  to  attempt  to  drive  them  off.  There  was  little 
use  attempting  to  curb  the  rustlers,  leaving  that  to  the 
Indians  themselves." 

The  "excellent  terms"  upon  which  Tracy  and  hisl 
friends  stood  with  the  Indians,  when  Mr.  Allis  met 
him,  did  not  continue  through  the  winter. 

In  the  Tracy  gang  there  was  a  quarter-breed  who 
rejoiced  in  the  odd  name,  for  one  having  Indian  blood, 
of  Ryan.  He  it  was  who  first  taught  the  Arapahoes 
the  delights  of  "monte"  and  they  were  quite  as  keen  at 
the  game,  when  they  were  again  introduced  to  the> 
white  man's  methods  of  dealing  it  by  Tracy,  as  they 
were  when  first  introduced  into  its  mysteries. 

Bucks  who  had  proved  their  prowess  by  taking  their 
blankets  and  ponies  from  their  less  sagacious  brethren' 
made  regular  trips  across  the  reservation  to  wager 
those  same  ponies  against  the  whiskey  and  ammunition 
of  the  white  man. 

They  lost  so  persistently,  they  drove  so  many  ponies 
into  the  corral  the  rustlers  had  built  by  fencing  a 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  71 

ravine  with  a  narrow  mouth,  and  in  which  there  was 
winter  feeding,  that  they  became  exasperated.  Some 
of  the  most  enterprising  of  them  made  sorties  into 
that  portion  of  "the  reservation  which  had  been  set 
apart  for  the  Shoshones  and  brought  back  more 
Iponies,  which  they  lost  in  due  time. 

In  the  early  months  of  1898,  when  their  cattle  were 
ithin  and  rations  running  low,  the  Arapahoes,  or  some 
few  of  them,  made  up  their  mind  that  what  they  had 
lost  by  gambling  they  might  recover  by  stealth. 

The  snow  was  disappearing  from  the  valleys  and 
the  time  was  ripe  for  a  raid.  They  knew  that  the 
government  would  hardly  interfere  with  them  for 
taking  what  was  really  their  own  from  reservation  and 
cattle  rustlers. 

The  cabin  in  which  Tracy  and  his  friends  had  spent 
the  winter  was  built  on  a  side  hill  overlooking  the 
ravine  in  which  their  ponies  and  cattle  were  corraled. 
The  house  was  sheltered,  but  offered  opportunity  for 
a  proper  lookout.  The  men  knew  what  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  Indians  and  were  prepared  to  strike 
a  trail  to  the  northern  grazing  lands,  where  they  might 
find  market  for  their  stock  as  soon  as  the  snow  would 
permit  them  to  move. 

One  night,  early  in  March — they  were  prepared  to 
leave  next  day — Ryan,  who  was  keeping  a  very  wary 
eye  to  the  south,  saw  some  figures  moving  about  at 
the  mouth  of  the  corral. 

He  woke  up  the  others  and  told  them  the  Indians 
had  arrived.  He  was  quite  convinced  they  would  not 
fight  when  they  found  that  their  attempt  at  a  stampede 


72  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

would  be   futile.     Tracy  was   for  teaching  them  a 
lesson. 

"There  are  more  of  them  on  the  reservation/1  said 
Ryan,  sententiously.  They  went  out,  greeted  the  Ara- 
pahoes  as  though  they  supposed  they  were  come  on  a 
friendly  visit.  There  were  not  more  than  a  dozen 
bucks  in  the  raiding  party.  They  made  the  best  of  the 
situation,  accepted  the  courtesies  of  the  white  men  in 
the  iform  of  a  drink  of  fire-water  apiece  and  rode 
away. 

They  had  no  sooner  disappeared  than  Tracy  and  his 
friends  broke  camp  and  started  to  the  northeast.  They 
drove  nearly  five  hundred  ponies.  The  marauders  of 
the  previous  night,  knowing  what  would  probably  oc- 
cur, had  gathered  a  score  of  their  friends.  They  were 
on  their  trail  before  noon  and  caught  up  with  them 
near  the  Warm  Springs  mountains. 

Tracy  and  his  friends  had  little  hope  of  saving  both 
themselves  and  the  ponies.  Again  Tracy  was  for  hav- 
ing a  fight  with  the  Arapahoes,  he  and  three  others  to 
remain  behind  for  this  purpose,  while  the  fifth  should 
drive  on  with  the  band  of  ponies.  The  plan  was  agreed 
to.  A  Frenchman,  named  Moreau,  was  elected  to  go 
on  with  the  ponies  while  the  others  remained  to  delay 
the  Indians. 

The  four  men  entrenched  themselves  behind  a  num- 
ber of  boulders  lying  along  the  side  of  a  ravine  through 
which  the  trail  led. 

They  halted  the  Indians  and  there  was  a  brief  parley. 
Nothing  would  do  the  Arapahoes  but  the  return  of 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  73 

their  stock.  Tracy  told  them  that  they  might  get  them 
if  they  could. 

They  proposed  to  take  half  of  the  herd  of  ponies 
and  let  the  white  men  go  with  the  remainder.  The 
leader  pointed  out  that  if  they  reported  the  matter  to 
the  military  authorities  the  soldiers  would  certainly 
get  all  the  ponies  back. 

Tracy's  temper,  or  his  rashness,  cost  his  party  the 
band  of  ponies  and  very  nearly  cost  him  his  life. 
He  declared  the  parley  over  and  ordered  the  Indians 
back  out  of  the  canon. 

The  Arapahoes  scattered  for  cover  at  once  and 
Tracy  began  firing.  His  companions  were  compelled  to 
follow  suit.  The  Indians  were  badly  armed  but  they 
were  numerous  and  could  afford  to  wait. 

Before  dark  Ryan  had  been  killed  and  another  of 
the  whites  wounded.  That  Tracy  had  killed  more 
than  one  of  the  Indians  was  quite  certain.  In  the 
cover  of  the  night  the  intemperate  desperado  concluded 
that  it  would  be  suicide  to  remain  there  for  daylight 
arid  Indian  reinforcements. 

The  same  cowardly  trait  of  his  character  which 
later  led  him  to  kill  Dave  Merrill  cropped  out  that 
night  in  the  Warm  Springs  mountains.  He  sneaked  off 
up  the  mountain  side,  leaving  the  two  men,  who  were 
still  living,  without  intimating  his  intention. 

The  two  men  were  killed  the  next  day,  Moreau  and 
the  ponies  were  brought  back  and  the  Frenchman 
turned  over  to  the  military  authorities  charged  with 
having  attempted  to  steal  the  Indians'  ponies.  The 


74 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


Arapahoes  quite  forgot  to  look  for  Tracy  until  it  was 
too  late. 

He  made  his  way  south  by  a  detour  and  was  seen  in| 
Rawlins  before  the  end  of  March.    He  declared  to  Mn 
Allis  that  he  proposed  going  to^the  coast,  and  added : 

"I  hope  I  will  be  shot  if  I  ever  get  away  from  pavedf 
streets  again." 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  75 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


AT  THE  GOLDEN  GATE — A  WATER  RAT. 


When  Tracy  vowed  that  he  had  had  enough  of  life 
in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains  and  plains  of  the 
mountain  states,  he  was  evidently  sincere,  for  he  ap- 
peared in  San  Francisco  some  time  about  the  first  of 
May,  1898. 

That  he  was  in  hard  luck  was  plainly  shown  from  his 
appearance.  He  had  discarded,  so  far  as  his  apparel 
was  concerned,  all  outer  evidences  of  the  "Wild  West" 
desperado.  But  in  the  disappearance  of  the  picturesque 
from  his  make-up  no  improvement  in  the  man  was 
brought  about. 

When  he  made  his  debut  in  the  purlieu  of  Kearney 
street  he  was  habited  like  any  one  of  a  thousand  of 
the  hangers-on  in  the  saloons  and  dives  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. His  broad  shoulders  were  made  broader  by 
a  close  fitting,  short,  double-breasted  coat,  trousers 
that  had  no  acquaintance  with  the  tailor's  goose,  a 
round  soft  hat,  tipped  well  forward  over  his  eyes  and 
a  slouching  gait,  that  was  characteristic  of  the  kind 
of  companions  he  immediately  fell  in  with. 

He  wore  a  moustache.  His  skin  was  dark  but  clean, 
his  eye  bright  and  keen,  but  wore  habitually  the  furtive 
look  of  the  man  who  is  always  looking  for  the  un- 
expected to  happen  and  is  making  ready  for  it. 


76  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

It  might  have  been  the  death  of  'Genie  that  had 
brought  about  this  change  in  his  appearance  which 
marked  the  transit  from  the  desperado  of  the  moun- 
tains and  plains  to  the  typical  loafer,  thief  and  cheap 
gambler. 

He  had  no  particular  pal.  His  appearance  indicated 
that  he  was  not  in  funds  and  at  that  time  he  lived 
along  from  hand  to  mouth,  perhaps  prospecting  the 
country.  He  made  a  saloon  in  an  alley  off  Kearney 
street  his  principal  loafing  place  and  at  night  he 
prowled  about  and  undoubtedly  secured  the  means  to 
procure  the  necessaries  of  life  by  holding  up  drunken 
sailors  and  other  bibulous  worthies  who  roamed  about 
the  neighborhood  in  search  of  such  pleasures  as  the 
night  side  of  life  in  San  Francisco  afford. 

One  night  Tracy  sat  in  this  saloon,  which  was  kept 
by  a  man  named  Olson,  waiting  for  something  to  turn 
up.  He  leaned  back  against  the  wall  in  a  chair,  his 
feet  gathered  under  him,  his  hat  drawn  over  his  eyes 
and  about  his  face  were  lines  which  indicated  that  he 
had  been  on  a  debauch.  At  the  bar  stood  two  men, 
one  of  them  a  rough-looking  young  fellow,  something 
of  Tracy's  own  class,  the  other  a  sailor. 

The  mariner  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  and 
a  moment  before,  when  he  came  into  the  place,  the 
young  fellow  with  whom  he  was  now  engaged  in 
conversation  had  sung  out : 

"Strike  up  the  band,  here  comes  a  sailor,"  and  the 
sailor,  good  humoredly  drunk,  was  rather  tickled  by  the 
salutation. 

"Yes,  and  if  he  ain't  just  off  a  whakr,  he's  willin' 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  77 

to  buy  a  drink."  He  laughed  foolishly  and  shook  hands 
with  the  singer.  As  the  latter  stood  at  the  bar  with 
him  he  picked  up  the  sailor's  change  abstractedly. 

"You  took  my  change,"  said  the  sailor  man. 

"That  your  change?"  said  the  other. 

"Yes  and  you  knew  it,"  said  the  sailor,  as  quick  to 
propose  a  fight  as  he  had  been  to  show  his  amiability. 
The  young  fellow  protested  that  he  meant  no  harm. 
The  sailor  was  insistently  pugnacious,  and  as  he  ap- 
plied an  epithet  to  the  other  the  young  fellow  struck 
him. 

Instantly  the  sailor,  who  was  a  brawny  chap,  pulled 

sheath  knife  and  made  a  lunge  at  the  other.  He,  un- 
armed, backed  away,  the  sailor  pursuing  him  and 
|  lunging  viciously.  Tracy,  whose  attention  had  been 
attracted  by  the  row,  was  not  a  man  ordinarily  to  take 
up  another's  quarrels,  but  fate  was  at  work  again. 

He  stood  up  and  in  the  act  reached  back  and  picked 

up  the  chair  upon  which  he  had  been  sitting.     The 

sailor  man  was  within  handy  reach  and  as  the  chair 

!  crashed  down  and  broke  over  his  head  he  collapsed 

and  the  knife  went  spinning  from  his  hand. 

The  young  fellow  who  had  been  in  such  imminent 
danger  said  to  his  rescuer  rather  sheepishly: 

"Much  obliged,  Pal." 

Then  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  unconscious 
sailor,  who  was  thrown  out  of  the  door  and  robbed 
of  his  money  before  he  had  fairly  landed  in  the  gut- 
ter of  the  dirty  alley  outside. 

Then  the  young  fellow  bought  a  drink  and  invited 
Tracy.  He  even  bought  another  drink  and  with  the 
remark: 


78  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

"You're  a  kind  of  a  hit  with  me,"  he  asked  the 
other's  name. 

"You  seem  to  be  all  right,"  said  the  desperado,  "and 
I  don't  mind  telling  you  that  my  name  is  Tracy." 

"Mine's  Dave  Merrill,"  said  the  other,  and  he  shook 
the  hand  that  was  to  deal  him  death  in  so  dastardly  a 
manner. 

Tracy  and  Merrill  were  seen  much  together.  The 
younger  man  had  but  recently  arrived  from  Portland, 
Ore.,  where  he  was  already  well  known  to  the  police 
and  it  had  required  but  the  guidance  of  a  more  intrepid 
mind,  like  that  of  Tracy,  to  bring  out  the  more  daring 
qualities  that  were  latent  in  him. 

Together  they  drifted  to  the  delectable  land  known 
as  the  Barbary  Coast,  and  one  night  had  a  windfall  in 
the  shape  of  a  drunken  sea  captain,  recently  arrived 
from  a  foreign  port  with  a  pocket  full  of  money,  who 
proved  an  easy  victim  when  dragged  into  a  doorway 
and  choked  into  insensibility. 

Tracy  inspired  Merrill  with  larger  views  of  a  life 
of  thievery  by  telling  him  of  his  own  exploits,  and 
Merrill,  who  was  better  acquainted  with  the  ways  of 
a  seaport  town  than  the  other  man,  imparted  his  ideas 
of  how  wealth  might  be  secured  at  little  risk  along 
the  water  front. 

Their  first  effort  to  procure  wealth  from  the  means 
nearest  at  hand  was  thought  of  by  Merrill  and  carried 
out  by  the  cool  nerve  of  Tracy. 

A  ship  from  Japan,  the  "Carrie  Chapman,"  was  un- 
loading a  cargo  of  Oriental  merchandise,  consisting 
largely  of  silks,  at  a  warehouse,  and  the  goods,  being 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  79 

consigned  largely  to  a  great  importing  house  in  the 
east,  were  being  transferred  by  day  to  the  freight  yards 
of  the  Southern  Pacific. 

The  freight  was  being  transferred  by  a  line  of  drays 
and  Merrill  had  observed  that  the  draymen  were  identi- 
fied rather  by  their  conveyances  than  by  their  personal- 
ity. The  two  thieves  found  it  easy  enough  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  one.  of  the  drivers,  whose  haunts 
they  located  in  the  evening.  When  they  put  them- 
selves in  his  way  the  next  day,  he  did  not  require 
much  urging  to  get  off  his  empty  dray  and  take  a 
drink.  He  was  a  big  fellow  and  wise  in  his  generation, 
but  his  bullet  head  was  not  proof  against  the  "knock- 
out" drops  that  Tracy  insinuated  into  his  liquor. 

He  was  dragged  into  a  back  room,  divested  of  his 
jumper  and  overalls,  and  when  a  few  minutes  later 
Tracy  mounted  the  dray,  only  an  acquaintance  of  the 
real  driver  would  have  noticed-the  difference  between 
him  and  the  drugged  man. 

"It  was  no  trick  at  all,"  said  Tracy  to  Merrill,  as  the 
other  clambered  up  on  the  dray  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  afterwards  and  they  started  on  the  drive  across 
town.  The  dray  was  loaded  with  bales  of  silk. 

"I  just  backed  up  and  helped  them  dump  the  stuff 
into  the  wagon.  Nobody  said  a  word  and  I  just  signed 
a  receipt.  Now  for  the  dough." 

Within  an  hour  they  had  disposed  of  the  plunder 
to  a  "fence,"  left  the  dray  standing  on  a  busy  street 
and  had  $400  to  divide. 


80  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


HOLDING  UP  AN  AUTOMOBILE  PARTY. 

"I  tell  you,  it's  up  to  us  to  get  out  of  here/' 

"Don't  be  a  chump,"  said  Tracy,  "would  anybody 
identify  us  with  the  two  tramps  who  went  after  thai 
dray  man?" 

"That's  all  right,"  said  Merrill,  "but  you  must  r# 
member  that  we've  been  attracting  some  attention 
and  I  don't  want  any  fly  bob  sneaking  up  to  me  and 
telling  me  that  the  'Captain  wants  to  see  me.'  * 

"Yes,  but  what's  the  chance,"  said  Tracy,  "Here 
we  are  wearing  diamonds  and  good  togs  and  the  worst 
they  can  say  of  us  is  that  we  don't  ask  what  the  limit 
is  when  we  hit  a  faro  game." 

Merrill  was  not  satisfied.  The  weakness  of  the  thief 
was  in  his  conscience,  and  his  idea  of  safety  was  in 
putting  distance  between  himself  and  the  scene  of  his 
crime.  The  two  men  were  flush.  They  had  been 
"against  the  bank"  and  had  had  an  unusual  amount  of 
luck.  With  a  couple  of  thousand  dollars  in  hand,  plenty 
of  flashy  clothes  and  some  diamonds,  Tracy  had  the 
conviction  that  he  could  not  be  identified  with  the 
"Water  Rat"  who  had  stolen  a  dray-load  of  silks,  and 
he  gave  no  thought  for  the  morrow.  For  two  weeks 
they  haunted  the  gilded  palaces  where  men  of  their 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  81 

iort  sought  pleasure  and  the  means  of  spending  their 
»sy-gotten  money. 

But  the  luck  turned.  Tracy  got  drunk  and  reek- 
ess.  The  money  disappeared  first,  then  the  diamonds, 
Mid  they  went  out  one  night  looking  for  a  victim. 

Tracy's  desperation  led  him  to  attempt  to  hold  up  a 
richly  dressed  Chinaman.  The  Mongolian,  frightened 

t  of  his  wits,  fled,  in  spite  of  the  gun  that  was  aimed 
it  him,  and  the  shot  that  Tracy  fired  brought  a 
iundred  infuriated  Chinamen  on  the  scene. 

The  bandits  ran,  were  pursued,  sought  cover  in  the 
railroad  yards,  finally  clambered  on  a  moving  freight 
;rain  and  were  carried  out  of  town. 

It  was  without  design  that  the  pair  found  them- 
selves in  Pasadena,  for  they  had  clambered  into  a  car 
md  when  the  door  was  locked  they  found  it  impossible 
;o  get  out  until  the  "side-door  Pullman,"  as  their  con- 
veyance was  jocularly  alluded  to  by  Tracy,  was 
rfiunted  onto  a  side  track  'at  the  pretty  town. 

They  were  without  money,  hungry  and  sober.  Both 
men  wore  their  guns  and  Merrill  was  for  going  into 
he  town  and  selling  one  of  his  for  the  sake  of  a  meal. 

"Never  do  that/'  said  Tracy.  "A  man  might  better 
>ell  his  clothes,  anything.  There  is  no  sense  in  selling 
the  tools  of  your  trade." 

"But  how  about  eating?"  said  Merrill. 

"We'll  fix  that,"  answered  the  other,  and  he  led  the 
way  out  of  town  in  the  direction  of  the  orange  or- 
chards. They  lay  in  the  shade  of  a  clump  of  trees 
waiting  for  dark  and  discussing  plans  for  the  future. 
(From  where  they  lay  they  had  a  view  up  a  mile  of 
iroadway. 


82  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

It  was  a  glorious  day  and  in  the  brilliant  herbage  o 
that  delightful  country  there  was  that  to  lead  the  sense 
of  man  to  thoughts  other  than  those  coupled  witl 
brigandage. 

The  surroundings  were  altogether  lost  on  Tracy.  H 
did  observe  that  oranges  were  within  reach  and  h 
growled  some  curses  because  they  were  not  fit  to  eai 
He  had  been  lying  prone,  his  chin  on  his  hands,  lookin 
up  the  road  when  he  gave  vent  to  a  profane  ejaculatio 
and  sprang  up,  then  sank  down  out  of  sight  in  th 
shrubbery. 

"By ,"  he  said,  "There  is  an  automobile  comin 

down  the  road  and  I  am  going  to  stick  it  up." 

Merrill  looked  startled. 

"You'll  get  us  pinched,"  he  said.  "They'll  get  int 
town  in  three  minutes  and  have  all  the  coppers  in  th 
world  on  our  trail." 

"Will  they?"  rejoined  Tracy.  "Well  you  watc 
me."  He  looked  at  his  weapons,  then  moved  closer  t 
the  roadside  and  took  a  position  where  he  could  fac 
the  machine  that  was  coming  leisurely  along.  Th 
grade  was  rather  steep  for  scorching.  In  the  seat  wit 
the  chaff eur  sat  a  young  and  pretty  woman,  in  th 
rear  seat  was  another  couple.  Tracy  hastily  wound 
handkerchief  around  the  lower  part  of  his  face. 

"Hold  up,  there,"  he  cofnmanded,  stepping  into  vie^ 
as  the  machine  approached  within  twenty  feet  of  hirr 
The  women  screamed,  the  driver,  startled  out  of  hi 
wits,  turned  the  lever  and  stopped  the  machine. 

"You'll  have  to  excuse  me,  ladies,"  said  Tracy,  "bu 
I  really  need  the  money.  Put  up  your  hands,  in  cas 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  83 

anybody  should  get  foolish.  Now  my  friend  will  see 
what  you've  got." 

Merrill  strode  over  to  the  machine.  He  was  slow 
and  Tracy  ordered  him  to  hurry  up.  Then  he  had  an 
idea. 

"Get  out  of  that  thing/'  he  roared  in  a  tone  that 
startled  the  tourists  again.  They  descended  precipi- 
tately, the  women  weeping  and  the  men  obviously 
scared.  Merrill  took  a  revolver  from  one  of  the  men. 
It  was  a  small  affair  and  Tracy  laughed  contemptuously 
when  he  saw  it. 

One  of  the  men  yielded,  and  groaned  as  it  was  taken, 
a  big  roll  of  money.  They  all  had  watches  and  the 
women  some  valuable  rings. 

"Pleasant  country  for  automobiling,"  said  Tracy  to 
one  of  the  women/  She  faltered  something  about 
going  to  faint  and  Tracy  said  nothing  more.  He 
examined  the  machine  after  the  party  had  been 
searched. 

"I  don't  like  the  looks  of  it  but  I  think  I  could  run 
it  on  a  straight  road,"  he  said,  and  he  ordered  the 
party  to  walk  into  the  grove  beside  the  roadway: 

"What  the are  you  going  to  do?"  asked  Merrill. 

"Watch  me,"  returned  the  other.  Under  his  direc- 
tion Merrill  tied  the  men  and  women  to  trees  by  the 
simple  process  of  putting  their  arms  around  the  trees 
and  behind  them.  The  men's  scarfs  and  the  women's 
torn  drapery  furnished  thongs. 

"You'll  get  away  by  night,  I  hope,"  said  Tracy.  "I 
wouldn't  inconvenience  you  for,  the  world  but  my 


84  TRACY.,   THE  BANDIT. 

friend  and  I  left  our  auto  in  the  stable  and  we  are 
compelled  to  borrow  yours." 

The  bandits  clambered  into  the  car  and  Tracy  too! 
the  lever.  A  couple  of  trials  showed  how  the  machine 
might  be  stopped  and  started,  and  as  there  was  a; 
straight  road  leading  north  from  the  direction  in  which? 
Pasadena  lay  he  was  not  worried  about  turning  around j 
The  machine  started.  Tracy  waved  his  hand  in  the 
direction  of  the  trees  to  which  their  victims  were  tiedr| 
One  of  the  men  called  out : 

"You  dirty  blackguard,  I'll  see  you  punished  for 
this."  Tracy  laughed. 

The  bandits  could  not  increase  or  regulate  the  speed 
of  the  machine  and  Merrill  was  for  abandoning  it  and 
taking  to  the  open  country.  Whet^ie  auto  stopped  be^' 
cause  it  had  run  out  of  power  they  jumped  out  and 
made  for  a  little  town  visible  some  miles  away  near 
the  railroad  track. 

The  auto  party  was  not  released  until  a  passing! 
farmer  heard  their  cries  during  the  night.  By  that 
time  Jracy  and  Merrill  were  on  their  way  north,  having 

"  another  freight, 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  85 


CHAPTER  XV. 


ROBBING  A  BANK. 


On  June  12  Tracy,  Merrill  and  a  burly,  red-headed 
I  man  whom  they  had  picked  up  on  the  road,  rode  into 
i  the  little  town  of  Sutter.  It  was  no  unusual  sight  to 
I  the  people  of  the  town  to  see  mcfUnted  men  and  there 
was  nothing  in  the  appearance  of  this  trio  to  attract 
more  than  passing  comment  as  they  rode  up  to  the 
hotel,  dismounted  and  wandered  into  the  bar.  Both 
Tracy  and  Merrill  retained  some  part  of  the  wardrobe 
they  had  purchased  with  the  money  taken  from  the 
automobilists  and  they  wore  no  guns  in  sight. 

The  red  man  was  bearded,  wore  a  canvas  coat,  and 
his  trousers  were  thrust  into  his  boots.  He  was,  in 
fact,  a  retired  knight  of  the  road,  his  retirement  hav- 
ing come  about  through  want  of  opportunity  to  pur- 
sue his  favorite  calling.  He  it  was  who  had  directed 
their  attention  to  the  possibility  of  making  a  haul  at 
Sutter  without  taking  very  long  chances. 

"It's  easy  enough,"  he  said  to  Tracy,  "the  bank  is  in 
a  building  by  itself  and  I  could  push  it  over  if  it  was 
necessary.  The  place  is  small  and  there  is  a  beautiful 
chance  to  get  away.  If  I  had  a  horse  I'd  take  a  chance 
on  it  myself." 

This  advice  it  was  that  led  Tracy  and  Merrill  to 
make  their  first  attempt  at  robbing  a  bank.  They 


86  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

had  no  very  defined  plans  for  each  one  of  them  hacl 
declined  a  proposition  to  go  into  the  town  single- 1 
handed  and  reconnoiter.  It  was  Tracy's  boldness  that  I 
led  them  into  the  place,  leaving  the  plan  to  shape  itself . I 

"We'll  ride  in,  take  a  drink  or  two,  have  a  look  at 
the  bank,  and  if  there's  any  of  the  long  green  in  sight3 
go  and  get  it,"  he  said. 

They  had  several  drinks  at  the  bar,  then  wandered 
out  into  the  village  street  and  walked  in  the  direction 
of  the  bank,  leaving  their  horses  in  front  of  the  hotel. 
Tracy  went  into  the  bank  and  had  a  fifty  dollar  bill 
changed.  He  stopped  in  sight  and  hearing  of  the 
cashier  and  gave  each  of  his  companions  a  ten  dollar 
bill,  at  the  same  tim^  making  a  remark  as  though  he 
were  paying  debts,  this  with  a  view  to  misleading  the 
cashier.  In  plain  sight  of  the  men  and  just  within  a 
wire  screen  which  might  easily  have  been  broken  down, 
lay  a  considerable  amount  of  money. 

At  the  rear  end  of  the  room  sat  a  clerk.  He  looked 
harmless  enough — a  young  fellow  whose  father,  prob- 
ably the  owner  of  the  bank,  had  sent  him  to  the  "wild 
west"  to  get  him  "licked  into  shape."  Incidentally 
he  had  apparently  taken  upon  himself  the  mission  of 
enlightening  the  natives  in  the  matter  of  raiment.  He 
wore  white  flannel  trousers,  a  gorgeous  "blazer"  and 
had  on  what  was  undoubtedly  the  only  high  collar  in 
town. 

The  cashier,  an  elderly  man  with  long  beard,  un- 
doubtedly shrewd  enough  in  dealing  with  farmers  and 
discounting  notes,  had  never  contemplated  the  pos 
sibility  of  a  hold-up.    All  the  money  in  the  bank 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

ept  in  sight  with  a  view  to  impressing  customers  with 
ie  resources  of  the  institution. 

There  were  two  entrances  to  the  bank  building,  that 
irough  which  the  bandits  entered,  another  in  the 
ear,  close  beside  the  desk  occupied  by  the  mold  of 
iashion  who  kept  the  bank's  books. 

As  the  three  men  left  the  bank  the  cashier  looked 
lip  at  the  clock  and  remarked : 

"Might  as  well  shut  up,  Jim,  I  guess.     There  isn't 
toing  to  be  any  more  business  today." 
f  "Suits  me,"  said  Jim,  "and  I  could  spend  the  after- 
iioon  up  in  the  mountains  very  handy." 
1  While  these  remarks  were  being  exchanged  Tracy 
find  his  companions  had  passed  a  few  steps  up  the 
Jtreet.    Then  Tracy  made  up  his  mind. 

The  street  was  deserted.  The  place  was  taking  its 
afternoon  nap.  Up  and  down  the  length  of  the  dusty 
main  street  there  was  nonliving  thing  in  sight  but  the 
:hree  horses  tied  in  front  of  the  hotel  and  a  panting 
log  lying  in  front  of  them. 

"It  looks  pretty  good  to  me,"  said  Tracy.  "Dave, 
you  go  up  and  get  the  horses.  By  the  time  you  get 
here,  we  ought  to  be  ready.  And  let  me  warn  you, 
Red,"  turning  to  the  other  man,  "that  gun  shots  wake 
a  town  up.  We  ought  to  turn  this  trick  without  firing 
i  shot.  I'll  take  care  of  the  men — you  get  the  money." 

Merrill  went  up  the  street  and  the  two  desperadoes 
stepped  into  the  bank.  As  their  shadows  fell  on  the 
{floor  the  cashier  turned  away  from  the  vault,  with 
[several  packages  of  money  in  his  hands.  He  had  been 


88  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

just  about  to  put  away  a  portion  of  the  resources  that 
had  lain  in  sight. 

"Throw  up  your  hands," 'shouted  Tracy,  presenting 
two  guns  at  the  astonished  banker. 

The  young  fellow  near  the  door  gave  vent  to 
howl  and  tried  to  dodge  out.  "Red"  forgot  his  in- 
structions, pulled  a  revolver  and  fired  one  shot  at  the 
clerk. 

"You  d fool/'  shouted  Tracy,  "you've  spoilee 

the  game."  At  the  same  instant  he  kicked  open  the 
wire  door  of  the  bank  cage  and  called  out  again  to  the 
clerk,  who  had  fallen  on  the  floor,  but  was  uninjured. 

"Shut  up,  you  bloody  idiot  or  I'll  blow  your  heac 
off." 

The  command,  uttered  in  the  ferocious  tone  that 
Tracy  could  use  on  occasion,  had  a  sedative  effective 
The  youngster  shut  up  and  "Red,"  who  had  followec 
Tracy  into  the  enclosure,  snatched  the  money  from  the 
cashier,  at  the  same  time  felling  him  with  a  blow  from 
the  butt  of  his  gun.    The  ruffian  thrust  the  money  into 
his  pockets,  seized  what  he  could  get  handily  on  the 
counter  and  the  two  men  ran  out  as  Merrill  arrived  in 
front  of  the  bank  with  the  horses. 

In  an  instant  they  were  in  the  saddle.  The  aroused 
inhabitants  were  inquiring  the  cause  of  the  gunshot 
by  this  time,  and  when  the/  saw  the  men  mounting 
appreciated  what  had  happened.  Not  a  shot  was  fired 
however  until  the  bandits  were  well  out  of  range  climb- 
ing one  of  the  hills  up  which  the  road  led  to  the  north. 

As  they  rode  Tracy  growled  at  the  red  bearded  mar 

"If  you  hadn't  fired  that  shot  we  would  have  tie 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  89 

hose  two  chumps  up  and  got  an  hour's  start/'  he  said. 

ed"  chafed  under  the  reprimand.  He  said  nothing, 
le  had  the  money  and  perhaps  he  had  a  scheme  of 
lis  own. 

From  a  point  on  the  trail  overlooking  the  town  they 

topped  to  look  down  for  pursuit.    A  little  knot  of  men, 

some  of  them  mounted,  others  in  buggies,  was  gathered 

iabout  the  front  of  the  bank.    The  young  fellow  in  the 

jblazer  could  be  easily  distinguished,  seated  in  a  buggy. 

"They're  reckoning  that  we'll  stick  to  the  road," 
feaid  Red,  "let's  fool  'em." 

After  crossing  another  narrow  valley  Red  led  the 
(way  up  a  rocky  canyon  where  the  nature  of  the  ground 
jpermitted  no  imprint  of  the  horses'  hoofs. 

"I  think  we  can  get  through  here,"  said  Red,  "cut 
(down  another  valley  where  the  horses  can  get  a  run 
(if  necessary  afid  fool  that  outfit." 

Their  progress  was  slow  and  there  was  great  danger 
that  the  horses  might  break  their  legs,  a  menace  that 
was  realized  as  they  turned  a  bend  in  the  canyon,  for 
the  horse  ridden  by  Merrill  suddenly  gave  a  scream  of 
pain  and  went  down  in  a  heap,  carrying  his  rider  with 
Ihim  and  falling  on  Dave's  left  leg  in  such  a  manner  as 
jto  put  walking  out  of  the  question  for  him.  They 
[lifted  the  horse  and  removed  Merrill,  who  groaned  and 
then  fainted  from  the  pain. 

"We're  in  a  h of  a  fix,"  snarled  Tracy. 

"I  guess  we'd  better  take  care  of  ourselves/'  said 
"Red." 

It  was  possible  the  spirit  of  contrariness  in  Tracy 
that  made  him  decline  the  proposition,  or  it  may  have 


90  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

been  the  weaving  of  fate's  thread  which  bound  his 
destiny  to  that  of  the  man  alone  and  insensible  on  the 
rocks. 

"No  we  won't,"  he  said.    "We'll  stick  by  the  kid/'  I 

Making  "Red"  dismount  first  he  told  him  to  hoist 
the  unconscious  man  to  a  place  on  his  horse  in  front 
of  him.  The  horse  that  had  fallen  was  so  injured 
that  it  could  not  put  its  hoof  on  the  ground  and  had 
to  be  abandoned. 

"Better  shoot  it,"  said  Tracy. 

"And  notify  that  gang  where  we  are,  I  suppose," 
said  the  other. 

"Better  a  dead  horse  than  a  live  one  limping  about," 
said  Tracy,  and  putting  his  pistol  to  the  animal's  head 
he  killed  brute.  They  made  their  way  slowly  to  where 
the  canyon  opened  into  a  park-like  bit  of  country  in 
the  heart  of  the  mountains. 

"I  think  we  might  plant  somewhere  about  here," 
said  Red.  "I've  had  occasion  to  keep  a  few  horses  in 
here  when  their  owners  might  be  looking  for  them 
and  the  place  hasn't  many  visitors." 

It  was  like  a  cup,  with  a  velvety  bottom,  this  break 
in  the  rugged  face  of  the  mountains.  Its  precipitous 
sides  were  covered  with  a  scrubby  growth  of  .timber. 
Down  through  the  grassy  heart  of  it  ran  a  little 
stream.  As  far  as  could  be  seen  there  was  no  outlet 
from  the  place  except  that  through  which  they  had 
entered.  Tracy's  sharp  eye  noted  this. 

"How  are  we  going  to  get  away,  if  necessary,"  he 
said,  "down  back  through  Sutter?" 

"Leave  that  to  me,"  said  "Red."     "It  used  to  be 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  91 

iccessaty  to  take  horses  out  of  here,  as  well  as  bring 
fhem  in." 

They  laid  Merrill  on  the  bank  of  the  little  stream 
rhere  he  presently  recovered  consciousness.  Tracy 
examined  Dave's  foot  and  leg  and  found  that  no  bones 
/'ere  broken.  When  he  tried  to  stand  on  it,  however, 
le  found  it  useless. 

"Stick  it  in  cold  water,"  advised  "Red."  "That'll 
ix  it. 

While  Dave  lay  moaning  with  his  ankle  in  the  water 
they  counted  and  divided  the  money.  There  was  $850 
apiece. 

"Not  bad,"  said  Tracy.    "If ,"   and  he  looked 

anxiously  towards  the  defile  through  which  they  had  ' 
entered  the  little  valley.     As  he  glanced  he  suddenly 
threw  himself  flat  on  the  ground. 

"Down,"  he  hissed. 

"Red"  obeyed  precipitately.  Merrill  was  already 
down. 

"Trouble's  going  to  start,"  said  Tracy.  "They're 
comin',"  and  he  drew  his  weapons. 

"Red"  craned  his  neck  in  the  direction  in  which 
Tracy  pointed  and  then  suddenly  stood  up  and  waved 
his  hat. 

"It's  all  right,"  he  said. 

The  ejaculation  saved  him.  Tracy,  on  the  lookout 
for  treachery,  had  been  within  a  second  of  killing  the 
man. 

"It's  some  of  my  pals,"  said  "Red." 

Down  the  side  of  the  mountain  three  horses  bearing 


;l 


92 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


men  scrambled  in  the  wake    of    a    dozen    riderles 
animals. 

"Who  are  they  ?"  demanded  Tracy. ' 

"Friends  of  mine  who  use  this  place  as  I  told  ypu,1 
answered  "Red,"  "now  we  can  stand  off  that  bunch 
from  Sutter." 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  93 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


TREACHERY — A   FIGHT    FOR   LIFE — TRACY    IS    WOUNDED. 


Tracy  did  not  receive  the  new  comers  with  very  good 
grace.  Naturally  suspicious,  never  willing  to  divide  his 
Dooty  or  increase  his  chances  of  capture  or  defeat, 
sven  with  his  friends,  he  resented  the  coming  of  the 
lorse-thieves  as  a  possible  menace. 

He  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with  the  actions  of 
ed."  This  man,  whose  name  is  said  to  have  been 
Cosgriff,  he  had  picked  up  in  that  off-hand  way  in 
which  outlaws  make  their  friends.  The  freemasonry 
:hat  appears  to  exist  among  all  men  who  live  without 
the  pale  of  the  law  had  put  Tracy  and  Merrill  on  a 
)lane  of  seeming  friendship  with  "Red,"  but  as  yet 
nothing  had  transpired  to  assure  Tracy  that  the  man 
might  be  reckoned  a  friend  as  well  as  a  companion  in 
crime. 

The  new  comers  were  not  calculated  to  inspire  con- 
fidence in  one  even  less  suspicious  than  Tracy  had 
Decome  by  reason  of  his  hardening  career.  They  were 
melted  and  booted,  dirty,  unkempt  and  unshaven — inci- 
dentals that  might  not  have  militated  against  them  in 
the  mind  of  so  thorough-going  a  rascal  as  Tracy,  but 
they  did  not  help  even  with  him. 

The  man  who  apepared  to  be  the  leader  of  the  trio 
and  who  greeted  "Red"  with  a  surly  "Hello,  'Red' " 


94  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

and  in  a  manner  that  showed  they  were  on  excellent 
terms,  was  a  tall,  ferocious-looking  brigand,  with  a 
repulsive  countenance  and  having  but  one  eye.  The  I 
others  were  but  little  better  favored  than  he  and 
Tracy  was  not  the  more  pleased  to  see  that  they  all' 
shook  hands  with  Cosgriff. 

"Been  havin'  a  mix?"  inquired  he  of  the  one  eye,] 
glancing  at  Merrill. 

"Not  much.    Fell  off  his  boss,"  replied  "Red." 

"Are  ye  under  cover  ?"  asked  the  new  comer. 

Tracy  warned  "Red"  with  a  glance  which  he 
heeded  and  remarked: 

"Just  for  a  day  of  two." 

If  the  horse  thieves  were  not  to  be  commended  for 
their  looks  they  were  hospitable  after  their  kind.  One 
of  the  number  was  sent  to  keep  a  lookout.  The  other 
two  produced  provisions  of  various  kinds,  which  they 
had  obviously  not  come  by  honestly,  being  mostly  in 
the  form  of  unplucked  fowls  and  freshly  killed  sheep, 
and  the  meal  that  was  gotten  ready  presently  was  de- 
voured voraciously  by  the  crowd. 

Darkness  was  now  settling  fast  in  the  wooded  glen, 
and  the  night  threatened  to  be  cold,  a  common  co- 
idtion  after  dark  at  that  altitude.  The  obvious  danger 
of  starting  a  fire  in  the  dark  put  that  proceeding  out 
of  the  question. 

Tracy  observed  that  the  one-eyed  man  had  called 
"Red"  to  one  side  and  had  a  conversation  with  him. 
The  desperado  knew  no  fear,  but  he  did  know  the  kind 
of  man  he  was  dealing  with.  The  proverbial  "honor 
among  thieves"  had  never  appealed  to  him  and  he  was 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  95 

skeptical  of  the  verity  of  it.    He  dropped  along  side 
of  Merrill  and  whispered : 

"Are  you  fit  for  a  mix  ?" 

"I'm  game/'  said  Merrill. 

All  night  the  two  men  remained  together,  Tracy, 
with  his  weapons  ready  and  Merrill  dozing  most  of 
the  time.  Nothing  occurred  until  after  breakfast  in 
the  morning  when  a  man  who  had  been  sent  up  the 
hillside  was  seen  to  make  a  signal  which  drove  them 
all  to  cover  in  the  scrubby  timber  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  valley  through  which  they  had  entered.  The 
signalling  must  have  been  preconcerted,  for  Tracy, 
walking  with  Merrill,  whose  foot  was  practically  all 
right,  was  allowed  to  go  in  advance  of  the  others  sev- 
eral paces.  His  quick  ear  observed  in  a  moment  that 
the  horse-thieves  and  "Red"  were  not  following.  He 
laid  his  hands  on  his  guns  and  turned  swiftly. 

As  he  turned  Cosgriff  and  the  one-eyed  man  were 
standing  together  some  twenty  feet  away.  Both  had 
their  weapons  drawn  and  in  that  attitude  the  two 
parties  stood  for  an  instant.  Then  the  one-eyed  man 
spoke : 

"We've  talked  it  over,"  he  said,  "and  the  best 
thing  you  young  fellers  can  do  is  to  tote  your  traps 
out  o'  this.  You  see,"  he  continued,  "we're  kind  o* 
peaceable  here  and  we'll  be  better  off  if  the  folks 
from  Sutter  should  drop  in  not  to  have  you  two  here. 
And  perhaps,"  he  added  with  a  grin,  "it'd  be  better  if 
your  clothes  wasn't  stickin'  out  with  money,  so  you'd 
better  hand  over  that  dough." 

Why,, Tracy  had  permitted  this  harangue  he  could 


96  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

not  tell,  rie  may  have  been  reckoning  the  odds, 
he  had  he  must  have  decided  that  four  to  two 
not  too  long  a  chance,  for  even  as  the  speaker 
eluded  a  shot  rang  out  and  the  one-eyed  man  drop 
in  his  tracks.  With  that  marvelous  dexterity  and 
tainty  of  aim  which  distinguished  him,  Tracy  h; 
fired  holding  his  pistol  at  his  side— and  the  cham 
now  were  but  three  to  two.  This  he  reckoned  in  a 
flash,  for  even  as  the  one-eyed  horse-thief  dropped, 
Tracy  and  Merrill  covered  the  red-bearded  man  and 
his  companion  with  their  guns.  Tracy  and  Merrill 
both  shot  and  the  two  fell,  wounded. 

At  that  moment  the  man  who  had  been  on  lookout 
came  running  out  of  the  timber,  firing  as  he  ran. 
Tracy  turned  to  return  his  fire  and  as  he  did  so  his 
attention  was  distracted  from'  "Red/*  who,  rolling 
over  on  his  elbow,  aimed  steadily  at  Harry,  and  as  his 
weapon  spoke  Tracy's  left  arm  dropped  to  his  side. 

With  a  frightful  oath  Tracy  and  Merrill  both  shot 
at  Cosgriff  and  he  moved  no  more.  Fifty  yards  away 
the  man  who  had  been  on  lookout  was  prone  on  the 
ground. 

"Now,"  said  Tracy,  "I  guess,  Dave,  it's  time  for  us 
to  duck." 

They  looked  at  the  prostrate  men.  Neither  the  one*r 
eyed  man  nor  "Red"  would  ever  again  look  over  a 
gun  or  steal  a  horse.  One  of  the  other  was  shot 
through  the  shoulder  and  the  fourth  man  had  a  shat- 
tered leg.  Tracy  relieved  the  living  men  of  their 
weapons  and  left  them  lying  as  they  were.  Then  he 
turned  to  Merrill  and  said: 

"You  had  better  tie  a  rag  around  that  wing  o 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  97 

mine  and  well  take  that  dead  dog's  advice  and  get 
out  of  this." 

The  wound  in  his  arm  was  painful  but  the  bone 
did  not  appear  to  be  shattered  and  Tracy  made  light 
of  it,  leaving  Merrill  to  saddle  the  horses  the  bandit 
strode  up  the  hillside  in  the  direction  from  which  the 
horse  rustlers  had  come. 

Presently  he  called  to  Dave  that  it  was  all  right, 
to  come  on.  Throwing  the  captured  pistols  and  some 
i  provisions  into  a  couple  of  bags,  Merrill  swung  them 
over  his  horse's  back,  then  walked  over  to  the  body 
of  "Red"  Cosgriff  and  abstracted  the  roll  which  con- 
tained that  robber's  share  of  the  previous  day's  en- 
terprise. 

For  two  days  the  men  wandered  about  in  the  moun- 
tainous country,  losing  their  pursuers,  perhaps  the 
more  thoroughly  in  that  they  lost  themselves. 

At  noon  of 'the  third  day  they  came  upon  a  farm- 
liouse  occupied  by  an  elderly  couple.  Tracy,  worn  by 
his  wound,  which  had-  become  feverish  and  was 
troubling  him,  and  Merrill,  still  able  to  use  his  foot 
only  with  great  pain,  concluded  to  take  chances  on 
getting  out  of  the  country.  The  old  backwoodsman, 
induced  by  the  offer  of  the  bandits  to  give  him  their 
horses  if  he  would  transport  them  in  a  wagon  to  a 
railroad  point,  piled  the  wagon  box  with  hay  and 
the  bandits  lay  in  it  and  got  away  to  the  coast. 

At  Humboldt  they  bargained  with  the  captain  of 
a  lumber  schooner  to  take  them  off  and  were  landed 
in  Portland,  where  they  were  to  begin  their  career  of 
desperate  criminality  which  landed  them  in  thfc  peni- 
jtentiary,  and  finally  led  to  the  death  of  both. 


98  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   END — TRACY   BECOMES  A 

BURGLAR — PORTLAND    IS    ASTONISHED   BY    THE 

CRIMES  OF  TWO  MEN. 


David  Merrill's  family,  his  mother  and  half  sister, 
lived  in  Portland,  Oregon.  It  was  the  homing  in- 
stinct, as  strong  in  criminals  as  in  those  whose,  lives 
run  in  different  channels,  that  led  Dave  to  select  Port- 
land as  a  place  of  shelter.  The  fact  that  they  found 
passage  direct  from  Humboldt  to  the  Oregon  city  was 
merely  an  incident — the  two  intended  to  make  for  thatj 
point  when  they  had  made  California  too  hot  to  hold 
them. 

The  Merrills  came  from  Vancouver,  British  Colum- 
bia.    Even  while  they  lived  on  the  Canadian  side  of 
the  line  Dave  had  developed  traits  of  toughness.     He 
had  made  many  excursions  into  the  interior  and  to  the 
north.    When  the  Klondike  craze  broke  out  he  started 
for  the  new  gold  country  but  got  no  farther  than] 
Skaguay.    There  he  had  been  identified  with  the  thug^ ) 
and  gamblers  who  preyed,  upon  the  gold  seekers  inll 
tending  to  make  the  trip  over  the  Chilkoot  Pass. 

He  was  known  as  a  dangerous  man,  ready  with  his 
gun  and  not  above  using  it  when  necessary  to  carry 
on  his  nefarious  business  of  holding  up  tenderfeet  or 
to  "make  good"  in  a  gun  fight. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  99 

He  was  driven  out  of  the  place  when  the  condi- 

ions  became  unbearable  and  the  decent  citizens  rose 
up  and  notified  the  toughs  that  they  must  get  out  or 

ake  chances  on  frontier  justice. 

While  he  was  absent  in  the  north  his  mother  and 
sister,  respectable  people  to  whom  the  boy  was  the 
cause  of  much  sorrow,  had  removed  from  Vancouver 

;o  Portland,  and  with  them  he  sought  shelter  while 
recuperating  and  making  ready  to  start  forth  again. 

Even  the  presence  of  his  family  exercised  no  re- 
straint upon  Merrill  for  while  he  was  living  at  home 

le  engaged  in  so  many  exploits,  petty  hold-ups  and 
other  robberies  that  the  police  made  the  place  too  hot 

:or  him  and  he  was  given  his  choice  of  going  to  jail 
or  getting  out  of  Portland.  He  did  not  hesitate — he 
preferred  exile  and  freedom  to  a  prison  cell  and  made 

lis  way  down  the  coast.  This  flitting  led  to  the  meet- 
ing with  Tracy. 

When  he  returned  home  he  brought  with  him  the 
desperado  with  whom  he  was  associated  and  who  was 
to  be  his  executioner. 

The  two  men  appear  to  have  been  received  hospi- 
tably— Merrill  even  affectionately — by  Dave's  mother 
and  sister.  In  spite  of  Tracy's  sinister  record  and  his 

Joodthirsty  character  his   personality   was   not  un- 

)leasing  when  he  desired  to  make  himself  agreeable 
and  he  was  cheerful,  almost  entertaining,  when  he 
exerted  himself  to  please  a  woman. 

That  'Genie  was  the  one  woman  to  whom  he  gave 
any  large,  share  of  affection  is  very  certain,  but  it  is 
also  certain  that  he  had  met,  at  various  periods  of  his 


100 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


career,  other  women  who  would  not  have  been  dis 
pleased  to  be  on  better  terms  with  the  good  lookir 
and  daring  outlaw. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Mary  Merrill  should  have 
been   pleased  with  the  bandit.     He  was   genial,   he 
looked    fearlessly   at   everyone    with    whom    he    was 
brought  into  contact  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  tr 
girl  knew  something  of  his  romantically  stirring  past 
Of    its   bloody   ferocity   she   was   probably   unawar 
though  it  must  be  admitted  that  even  such  a  pas 
would  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  good  womar 
making  the  man  the  object  of  her  affections. 

In  all  ages  good  women  have  sacrificed  themselves 
for  men  who  had  the  instincts  of  ruffians. 

Thrown  •  much   into  the  company  of   Tracy — whe 
with  Dave  remained  quietly  at  the  Merrill  home  for 
some  weeks,  Mary  Merrill  probably  lost  her  heart  tc 
her  brother's  partner  in  crime.    In  any  event  they  be 
came  engaged,  according  to  common  rumor. 

That  her  influence  and  association  with  her  made 
for  the  taming  of  the  bandit  is  inferred  from  the  fac 
he  refrained  for  some  time  from  deeds  of  violence 
Then  there  was  another  reason  why  he  might  ref rair 
from  crime — he  was  in  funds. 

He  went  about  with  the  Merrills  and  met  their 
friends.  He  was  popular  with  the  people  whom  he 
met — who  were  not  likely  to  be  of  a  class  to  ask  ques- 
tions about  the  past  of  a  man  who  had  money  that 
he  was  willing  to  spend  and  was  good  company. 

But  both  he  and  Dave  spent  the  money  they  had 
brought  with  them  lavishly.  In  a  few  weeks  they  wer 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  101 

broke.  Then  it  occurred  to  Merrill  that  they  would 
be  more  certain  of  protection  if  they  "operated"  in 
and  about  Portland  and  made  his,  mother's  home  a 
hiding  place.  The  attention  of  the;  ppScp  :had  not  yet 
been  directed  to  his  return.  Tra.oy  the  police  of  Port- 
land knew  nothing  of,  except,  by»\cpmmoil  -re^Git: 
They  assuredly  had  no  idea  that  he  was  m  the  city. 

Six  weeks  after  their  advent  in  Portland  the  men 
were  broke.  They  had  been  out  late  one  night,  gamb- 
ling. They  were  on  their  way  home  cursing  their  luck. 

"Say,  Harry,"  said  Merrill,  "it  wouldn't  be  much 
of  a  trick  to  get  away  with  a  bundle  of  money  in 
that  gambling  joint/' 

"I  was  thinking  of  that  when  I  saw  old  Amos  put- 
ting away  that  bank  roll  to-night.  There  must  have 
been  three  or  four  thousand  in  it."  Tracy's  mind  was 
running  with  that  of  his  companion. 

"You  could  cut  a  hole  in  that  safe  just  like  it  was 
paper,"  said  Merrill.  "Let's  go  -back  and  crack  it." 

"Do  you  know  the  building?" 

"Backwards.  I've  slept  in  that  room  many  a  night 
when  I  went  broke.  There  is  a  fire  escape  up  the  back 
way.  I  can  get  into  the  box  by  listening  to»  the 
tumblers." 

The  trick  did  not  take  them  a  half  hour.  They  got 
$1,100 — but  they  got  drunk  and  talked.  The  conse- 
quence of  their  talkativeness  was  that  Amos  got  them 
in  such  a  tight  corner  that  they  gave  back  $600  of  the 
money  two  days  afterward  with  the  understanding 
that  they  should  not  be  prosecuted — an  arrangement 


102  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

altogether  satisfactory  to  the  gambler  who   did  nc 
want  his  business  exploited  too  much. 

"No  more  secpnd  story  work  for  me,"  said  Tracy, 
/'I'd  sooner  take  ajonger  chance  and  not  have  to  give 
up  any  of  the  goods/' 
•  .  Two  days  later  they  went  into  the  office  of  a  coal 
deafer.  It  was  Saturday,  and  just  about  dark.  They 
had  calculated  that  the  dealer  might  have  money  to 
pay  off  his  drivers,  and  there  would  certainly  be  the  1 1 
receipts  since  banking  hours. 

"I  want  you  to  send  me  a  ton  of  coal,"  said  Merrill, 
showing  a  bill.  He  gave  a  fictitious  name  and  address. 
When  the  man  bent  over  the  book  to  enter  the  order, 
Tracy  hit  him  with  a  blackjack,  felling^him.  The  coal! 
dealer  very  nearly  made  another  victim  on  Tracy's 
list  by  dying.  The  *saf e  was  locked  and  there  was  no 
opportunity  of  blowing  it  open.  The  robbers  got  only 
what  was  in  the  till,  a  few  dollars.  They  got  off  with- 
out trouble. 

Within  a  week  three  men  were  held  up  and  robbed  i 
within  three  blocks  in 'a  rich  residence  district.  The 
last  victim,  a  real  estate  man,  who  had  grown  up  with 
the  country  and  who  was  not  frightened  by  the  guns 
of  the  robbers,  made  an  argument  in  order  to  get  a 
look  at  his  assailants.  He  was  knocked  down  and 
his  valuables  taken.  He  recovered  before  the  men 
got  out  of  sight  and  started  in  pursuit  of  them,  shout- 
ing. He  was  joined  by  a  number  of  belated  citizens. 
Tracy  turned  around  and  fired  a  few  shots  at  the  pur- 
surers  but  it  was  too  dark  to  see  what  he  was  shoot- 
ing at. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  103 

The  robbers  crossed  a  suburban  car  line  just  as  a 
fast-running  trolley  car  arrived.  They  jumped  aboard 
the  car.  Tracy  held  a  gun  to  the  motorman's  head  and 
told  him  to  "let  'er  go." 

Dave  took  care  of  the  conductor.  They  distanced 
pursuit  in  a  dozen  blocks  and  took  to  the  dark  side 
streets. 

A  few  nights  later,  Tracy,  half  drunk  and  wholly 
reckless,  got  aboard  that  same  car.  He  happened  to 
recognize  the  motorman  and  conductor.  He  was  the 
only  passenger. 

He  talked  to  the  conductor,  who  recognized  him  as 
one  of  the  hold-up  men  he  had  been  compelled  to  carry. 

"I'm  not  in  such  a  hurry  to-night,"  said  Tracy, 
laughing.  He  appeared  to  be  drunker  than  he  was. 
It  entered  the  conductor's  head  that  he  might  do  a 
stroke  of  business  by  capturing  a  bandit. 

He  looked  ahead  and  saw  a  policeman's  star  glisten- 
ing under  an  electric  light.  Tracy  saw  the  star  too. 
The  conductor  reached  for  the  bell  cord. 

"Leave  it  alone/'  ordered  the  bandit,  and  he  pressed 
a  revolver  hard  against  the  conductor's  ribs.  The  car 
did  not  stop.  A  block  farther  on  Tracy  took  all  the 
money  the  conductor  had,  including  the  pennies,  hit 
the  man  wantonly  over  the  head  with  the  butt  of  his 
revolver,  and  escaped  from  the  car. 


104  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


CARNIVAL    OF    CRIME — POLICE    DESPERATE — MERRILL 

TRAPPED TRACY  CAPTURES  A  TRAIN — FELLED 

BY  A  BUTCHER — PRISON. 


Tracy  and  Merrill  indulged  in  a  carnival  of  crime  in 
the  closing  months  of  1898  and  January  1899.  They 
terrorized  the  streets  of  Portland.  The  citizen  who  had 
the  temerity  to  carry  valuables  and  attempt  to  make  his 
way  home  after  dark  was  in  a  very  fair  way  to  be 
held  up — and  he  generally  was. 

Neither  Tracy  nor  Merrill  made  any  particular  at- 
tempt to  cover  their  tracks.  The  very  boldness  of 
their  exploits  and  the  daring  they  exhibited  in  stand- 
ing off  pursuers  made  for  their  safety. 

The  men  had  several  rooms  to  which  they  resorted  as 
occasion  required.  At  times  both  of  them  stopped  at 
the  Merrill  home. 

The  police  were  nonplussed  and  rendered  desperate 
by  the  complaints  of  the  people  and  the  comments  of 
the  newspapers. 

They  were  morally  certain  that  Tracy  and  Merrill 
were  the  men  responsible  for  the  holdups  and  rob- 
beries but  it  seemed  impossible  to  take  them.  There 
was  a  conference  of  the  police  in  February.  The  chief 
announced  that  the  two  men  must  be  taken  alive  if  pos- 
sible or  brought  in  dead. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  105 

A  detective  named  Weiner  had  been  following  the 
men  and  knew  their  haunts.  He  advised  that  the 
Merrill  house  be  watched  constantly. 

For  five  days  detectives  watched  all  the  doors  but 
Tracy  and  Merrill  were  warned  and  kept  away  from 
the  house.  The  watch  was  abandoned,  the  police 
being  assured  that  the  only  way  to  trap  the  men  was 
by  raiding  the  house. 

On  the  night  of  February  8th,  a  boy  ran  into  police 
headquarters  and  said  he  had  seen  Harry  Tracy  and 
Dave  Merrill  enter  Mrs.  Merrill's  home. 

A  dozen  men,  policemen  and  detectives,  were  sent 
out  at  once. 

There  was  a  wagon-load  of  them.  The  wagon  was 
stopped  a  block  away.  The  house  was  covered  from 
front  and  rear.  It  was  a  two  story  affair  and  the 
police,  from  constant  watching,  knew  every  detail  of 
its  arrangement.  A  cordon  of  men  stood  about  with 
drawn  revolvers,  and  orders  to  shoot  in  case  anybody 
attempted  to  get  out. 

Three  men,  with  Weiner  and  a  captain  at  their 
head,  knocked  at  the  front  door.  Mrs.  Merrill  came 
to  the  door  in  response  to  the  knock.  Just  behind  her 
was  Mary  Merrill. 

"Is  Dave  Merrill  here?"  asked  Weiner,  putting  his 
f dot  inside  of  the  door.  As  he  spoke  Mary  Merrill 
disappeared. 

"He  isn't  here,"  faltered  the  mother. 

At  the  same  instant  the  policemen  at  the  back  door, 
saw  it  open  and  a  head  was  pushed  out.  Three  re- 


106  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

volvers  were  presented  at  the  head,  and  the  door 
slammed  to  again. 

Hearing  the  slamming  of  the  door  the  captain  and 
Weiner  pressed  in  through  the  front  door,  drawn  re- 
volvers in  hand.  If  Tracy  had  been  in  the  house  they 
would  surely  have  paid  for  their  temerity  with  their 
lives.  Merrill,  lacking  the  cool  determination  of  his 
pal,  permitted  his  mother  and  sister  to  secrete  him. 

The  police  filled  the  house  and  made  a  systematic 
search  of  it.  Room  by  room  they  progressed  and 
when  they  returned  to  the  lower  floor  they  had  not 
found  Dave. 

"He  could  not  get  up  a  chimney,  there  is  no  way 
out  to  the  roof.  The  man  must  be  in  the  house," 
said  the  captain.  "Search  the  drawers  and  closets." 

Mrs.  Merrill,  in  her  anxiety,  told  the  detectives 
where  to  search.  She  remained  in  her  own  bedroom. 
Along  one  side  of  the  room  there  was  a  big  old- 
fashioned  bureau.  In  the  lower  drawer  there  was 
room  for  a  man,  but  the  policeman  who  opened  it  was 
looking  for  hidden  plunder  rather  than  for  the  quarry. 
He  reached  into  the  drawer,  then  threw  himself  down 
into  it. 

"Dave  isn't  here  I  tell  you/'  Mrs.  Merrill  was  scream- 
ing. The  girl  looked  on  scornfully  until  the  detec- 
tive threw  hiniself  down  on  the  drawer.  Then  she 
screamed  and  the  police  thought  she  called : 

"Shoot,  Dave!" 

A  half  dozen  men  crowded  around  the  bureau. 

Merrill,  swathed  about  with  his  mother's  dresses, 
lay  in  the  drawer ;  the  clothing  encumbered  his  move- 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  107 

tnents.     He  could  not  shoot  and  was  disarmed  and 
arrested. 

"My  boy  is  not  to  be  blamed.  Tracy  did  it  all/' 
cried  the  distracted  mother. 

"Shut  up,  mother,"  cried  the  girl,  pressing  her  hand 
over  her  mother's  mouth.  The  poor  woman,  despair- 
ing as  well  as  enraged,  would  not  be  quiet.  She 
screamed  out  the  address  at  which  Tracy  might  be 
found. 

Giving  Mary  Merrill  no  chance  to  communicate  with- 
Tracy,  the  police  held  her  in  the  house  while  Weiner 
sent  a  decoy  note  to  the  bandit,  signing  Merrill's  name 
and  asking  for  a  meeting  and  naming  a  lumber  yard 
near  the  Northern  Pacific  railroad  tracks. 

All  his  after  life  Tracy  had  a  lurking  suspicion 
that  Dave  sent  the  note  himself,  though  there  was  no 
foundation  for  the  suspicion.  The  signature  was 
cleverly  forged  by  the  detective. 

Weiner  met  Tracy  alone.  It  was  known  that  the 
bandit  was  too  shrewd  to  approach  the  place  if  there 
were  many  there  and  Weiner  took  the  chance,  a  squad 
of  officers  being  concealed,  down  the  tracks. 

"Dave  wants  to  see  you,  Harry,"  called  out  the 
detective,  as  Tracy  approached,  cautiously. 

"Who  are  you?"  demanded  the  robber,  his  hand 
on  his  gun. 

"Well,  if  I  wasn't  right  Dave  wouldn't  put  me  in  it, 
would  he?"  said  the  detective.  "He  had  to  duck  in 
a  hurry  and  is  down  the  track.  He  was  afraid  to 
show  here  and  sent  me  down." 

They  started  along  the  track  together  and  Tracy 


108  TRACY,    THE   BANDIT. 

became  suspicious  of  the  answers  made  by  Weiner.  A  • 
switch   engine  passed  slowly  and  just  then  Weiner  ? 
gave  what  Harry  thought  was  a  signal.    Weiner  says ;, 
he  made  no  sign,  that  the  ambush  was  two  hundred! 
yards  further  on.     But  on  the  instant,  as  the  engine 
passed,  Tracy  put  out  his  hand  and  caught  the  railing 
of  the  cab. 

Swinging  himself  on  to  the  step  with  one  hand  he 
took  a  shot  at  Weiner,  who  was  only  a  few  feet  away. ? 
The  man  fell. 

The  bandit  was  in  the  cab  before  the  detective! 
reached  the  ground.  Putting  his  revolver  to  the  head,, 
of  the  astonished  engineer,  Tracy  said: 

"I'm  going  to  take  this  train.  Just  pull  open  the 
throttle/' 

Being  a  sensible  as  well  as  a  brave  man  the  engi- 
neer obeyed  promptly  and  the  locomotive  leaped  for-; 
ward,  dashing  past  the  ambushed  police  before  they 
realized  what  had  happened. 

It  was  impossible  to  keep  up  the  speed  in  the  yards 
and  Tracy  permitted  the  engineer  to  slow  up.  Two 
miles  out  he  prepared  to  leave  the  engine,  the  pace 
didn't  suit  him. 

The  police  had  telephoned  ahead  and  when  he  de-f 
scended  from  the  engine  a  couple  of  policemen  and 
a  mob  surrounded  him  before  he  could  make  off. 

He  drew  both  his  guns  and  said  quietly : 

"Now  you  people  get  out  of  the  way  and  there'll  be 
no  trouble.     If  you  don't  make  way  I'll  begin  shoe 
ing  and  when  I  shoot  it  means  something." 

As  he  stopped  speaking  a  man  wearing  a  butcher 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  109 

apron,  who  had  come  out  of  a  nearby  shop  hit  him 
on  the  head  with  the  flat  side  of  a  cleaver. 

Tracy  dropped  and  the  police  pounced  on  him.  Be- 
fore he  came  to,  he  was  disarmed  and  secured. 

He  was  tried  with  Merrill.  They  were  both  charged 
with  highway  robbery  and  in  Tracy's  case  it  was 
shown  that  he  assaulted  an  officer  with  intent  to  kill. 

He  was  given  twenty  years  in  the  penitentiary  at 
Salem  and  Merrill  was  sentenced  for  thirteen  years. 

The  day  before  the  men  were  removed  to  Salem, 
Tracy  was  visited  in  the  county  jail  at  Portland  by 
Mary  Merrill.  When  she  left  he  had  a  revolver. 

The  next  day,  when  his  cell  door  was  opened  he 
presented  a  revolver  at  the  head  of  the  jailer  and 
marched  him  to  the  outer  door. 

"Unlock  it,"  commanded  the  prisoner.  The  key  was 
turned  in  the  lock  and  Tracy  was  on  the  threshold  of 
freedom  when  two  clubs  fell  on  his  unprotected  head 
from  behind. 

Two  guards  had  observed  what  was  going  on,  had 
removed  their  shoes  and  crept  up  behind  the  man. 

The  next  day  the  prisoners  were  received  at  Salem 
and  the  warden  was  warned  that  they  were  desperate 
men, 


110  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  PATH   TO   FREEDOM    BLAZED   WITH   BLOOD. 


The  night  of  June  8,  1902,  was  dark  and  stormy. 
The  guards  traveling  the  broad  walls  surrounding  the 
Oregon  penitentiary,  at  Salem,  struggled  against  the 
fierce  blast  that  swept  the  country.  The  lightning 
played  on  fhe  barrels  of  their  rifles.  Thunder  pealed 
and  reverberated  incessantly  up  to  ten  o'clock  and  the 
prisoners  within  felt  the  horror  of  being  cooped  up 
in  narrow  spaces  while  the  elements  battled  in  wild 
freedom. 

When  the  rain  had  passed  at  ten  o'clock  the  wind 
still  blew  and  the  lightning,  though  vivid,  did  not 
come  in  sheets.  The  walls  could  guard  themselves  on 
such  a  night. 

It  was  near  eleven  when  a  single  horse,  attached  to 
a  buggy,  was  driven  up  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  prison  walls.  From  the  buggy  a  woman  descended 
bearing  a  burden. 

She  gazed  long  and  anxiously  at  the  walls  and  the 
little  sentry  boxes  in  which  the  guards  had  taker 
refuge.  Then  she  walked  fearlessly  to  a  section  of 
the  walls  above  which  peeped  the  roof  of  a  building- 
the  stove  foundry  of  the  prison.  She  deposited  her 
burden  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  and  returned  to  the 
buggy.  From  the  back  of  the  vehicle  she  pulled  out 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  Ill 

an  extension  ladder  that  had  projected  some  feet  from 
the  rear  of  the  box.  This  she  carried  to  the  wall. 

Quite  deliberately  she  drew  out  the  extension  of  the 
ladder,  then  laid  it  against  the  wall.  The  masonry 
stood  up  about  sixteen  feet  sheer  from  the  ground. 
She  knew  that  it  was  twenty  feet  from  the  top  of 
the  wall  to  the  ground  on  the  inside.  The  ladder 
reached  to  within  three  feet  of  the  top  of  the  wall. 

Stooping  over  the  burden  she  had  first  carried  to 
the  foot  of  the  wall  the  woman  busied  herself  for  a 
moment,  then  she  straightened  up  and  climbed  the 
ladder  laboriously  carrying  two  rifles.  Attached  to 
the  weapons  was  a  slight  string. 

Peering  along  the  wall,  stooping  when  the  now 
feeble  flashes  of  lightning  lit  up  the  surroundings,  she 
thrust  the  rifles  over  the  top  of  the  masonry  and 
lowered  them  by  the  attached  string  until  it  was  held 
loosely  in  her  hand  and  she  knew  the  weapons  lay 
on  the  ground,  just  beside  the  foundry  house. 

Breaking  the  string  the  weight  of  the  rifles  snapped 
the  end  of  the  cord  over  the  wall. 

The  woman  descended,  took  away  the  ladder,  put 
it  in  tHe  buggy,  climbed  in  herself  and  drove  away. 

"Did  you  hear  a  noise,  Bill?"  asked  one  of  the 
guards  of  another  as  they  met  on  the  wall  top  twenty 
minutes  later. 

"I  thought  I  did  but  it  was  a  passerby,  I  guess/' 

replied  "Bill." 

*     *     * 

At  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  doors  of  the 
prison  dormitory  swung  open  into  the  yard  and  a  little 


112  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

band  of  men  in  striped  suits  marched  into  the  brilliant 
light  of  the  early  day.  Besides  the  half  dozen  men 
marched  Guard  F.  B.  Farrell.  He  was  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  file. 

At  the  head  of  the  file  marched  Dave  Merrill  with 
another  man.  Just  behind  Merrill  Tracy  walked,  keep- 
ing the  prison  step.  They  filed  along  the  "dead  line" 
thirty  feet  from  the  prison  wall.  To  step  over  that 
line  meant  to  invite  death  from  the  rifles  of  one  of 
tihe  three  men  on  the  walls. 

Straight  for  the  foundry  door  marched  the  squad. 
When  within  ten  feet  of  the  door  of  the  workshop 
Tracy  spoke  in  a  low  tone. 

Instantly  Merrill  sprang  out  of  the  ranks,  Tracy 
beside  him.  In  three  bounds  they  reached  the  wall  and" 
seized  the  two  rifles  lying  there. 

The  four  remaining  prisoners  scattered,  and  Guard 
Farrell,  who  had  been  stunned  by  the  suddenness  of 
the  movements  of  the  convicts  presented  his  rifle  at 
them. 

Before  he  could  pull  the  trigger  Tracy  had  fired  a 
shot  and  the  guard  fell  dead. 

Shouting  in  a  manner  to  create  consternation  and 
disconcert  the  guards,  the  two  men  ran  quickly  to 
center  of  the  prison  yard.     In  the  magazine  of 
rifle  there  were  sixteen  shots  to  start.    The  men  be 
firing  at  the  guards  on  the  wall  and  they  returne 
the  fire. 

At  Tracy's  second  shot  Guard  S.  R.  T.  Jones,  sta- 
tioned on  the  wall  threw  up  his  hands  and  dropped 
dead  into  the  vard. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  113 

An  old  convict  named  Ingraham  got  in  the  way  of 
the  desperate  bandits  as  they  ran  back  to  the  wall. 
He  was  shot  down — he  afterwards  died. 

Beside  the  foundry  was  a  ladder.  Merrill  picked 
it  up  and  placed  it  against  the  wall.  The  prison  yard 
was  clear  at  this  time  but  Tracy  stood  waiting  for 
somebody  or  something  to  shoot  at.  Consternation 
filled  guards  and  convicts  and  the  men  started  to 
climb  the  ladders.  The  guards  on  the  opposite  wall 
fired  at  them  as  they  climbed.  Tracy  stopped  de- 
liberately and  shot  back. 

They  reached  the  top  of  the  wall  unharmed,  threw 
their  rifles  clear  of  the  mud  in  the  ditch  below  and 
jumped. 

They  landed  in  the  mud,  uninjured. 

"Across  the  fields  for  cover/'  shouted  Merrill. 

"Stop  you  idiot,"  yelled  Tracy.  "They'll  pot  you 
in  a  second." 

He  ran  along  under  cover  of  the  wall  to  the  main 
gate.  As  he  arrived  with  Merrill  at  his  heels  two 
guards  ran  out.  Before  they  saw  the  prisoners  Tracy 
had  them  covered  and  made  them  throw  their  rifles 
away. 

"Now  march  that  way,"  said  Tracy,  pointing  across 
the  fields  to  cover.  The  guards,  Tiffany  and  Ross 
started  to  walk  between  the  two  men,  the  rifles  of 
Tracy  and  Merrill  pointed  at  their  heads.  Presently 
Tracy  stopped  and  called  out  to  a  guard  on  the  wall. 

"You  fire  a  shot  and  we'll  blow  the  heads  off  these 
two." 


114 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


The  man  on  the  wall  fired  a  shot,  when  the  med 
were  a  hundred  yards  away.  He  missed. 

Tracy  shot  Tiffany  dead,  Merrill  shot  at  Ross  and 
the  man  dropped,  feigning  death.  The  convicts  broke 
into  a  run  and  in  three  minutes  were  under  cover  and 
well  way  before  pursuit  could  be  organized. 

"That  looks  like  a  good  getaway,  Dave,"  said  Tracy. 
"And  if  they  are  wise  they  won't  get  too  close  to  us." 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  115 


CHAPTER  XX. 


IN  THE  DEEP  TIMBER — DISCARDING  THE  STRIPES — TWO 
SHERIFFS  HELD  UP. 


The  penitentiary  at  Salem  is  built  close  to  the  banks 
of  the  Willamette  river.  The  country  is  thickly  tim- 
bered, the  virgin  growth  still  standing,  except  for  the 
clearings  that  are  occupied  by  farmers.  Salem  is  but 
forty-five  miles  from  Portland  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
comparatively  populous  country.  The  escape  of  the 
men  created  a  tremendous  sensation  throughout  the 
State,  and  the  governor,  within  a  few  hours  had 
offered  a  reward  of  $2,000  for  the  apprehension  of 
the  convicts. 

Within  a  few  hours  the  warden  of  the  prison,  co- 
operating with  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  had  organized 
a  posse  of  twenty  men  and  started  them  in  pursuit  of 
Tracy  and  his  companion. 

They,  in  the  meantime  had  taken  to  the  timber, 
which  is  very  dense.  The  men  were  hilarious  over 
their  escape.  No  tremor  of  remorse  at  the  lives  they 
had  taken  in  effecting  their  escape,  affected  them. 
They  were  in  excellent  health  and  those  with  whom 
they  were  brought  in  contact  soon  said  they  appeared 
to  be  in  the  best  of  spirits. 

They  were  a  desperate  looking  pair.  Three  years 
they  had  spent  in  the  prison,  nearly  all  of  the  time 


116  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

working  at  the  more  laborious  part  of  the  duties  per- 
formed in  the  stove  foundry.  Merrill  had  even  grown 
more  rugged  during  the  period  of  his  confinement. 
They  had  both  received  fairly  good  treatment,  though 
rigorously  watched. 

Tracy,  taking  a  lesson  from  his  former  prison  ex- 
perience, had  systematically  obeyed  the  rules  and  reg- 
ulations of  the  prison.  Having  constant  communica- 
tion with  the  outside,  he  had  always,  hoped  for  an 
opportunity  to  escape,  and  his  constant  ambition  was 
to  so  impress  his  guards  that  he  might  be  considered 
trustworthy.  Only  the  desperate  reputation  of  the 
men  had  kept  them  at  hard  labor  in  the  foundry,  for 
they  had  by  their  behavior  earned  the  consideration 
of  the  prison  officials. 

By  whait  means  the  plot  was  arranged  whereby  they 
were    furnished   with   arms   will   probably   never  be 
known.     Tracy  himself  said  that  the  rifles  were  fur-^ 
nished  by  a  woman  whom  he  had  some  day  expected 
to  recompense. 

At  noon  of  the  day  of  their  escape  the  two  men  ap-- 
peared  in  the  yard  of  a  farmhouse,  situated  in  a  clear- 
ing in  the  woods  within  three  miles  of  the  prison.    An 
old  woman  was  alone  at  the  door  when  they  approached 
and  she  screaming,  fled  into  the  house. 

The  men  were  bare-Jieaded.  Through  their  closely 
clipped  hair  the  skull  shone.  Their  faces  were  grimy, 
their  clothing  covered  with  mud  and  torn,  making  the 
stripes  which  were  a  badge  of  disgrace  even  more 
hideous.  In  their  black  and  knotted  hands,  each  of 
the  men  carried  a  rifle.  But  it  was  the  ferocity  of 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  117 

their  countenances,  rather  than  their  general  appear- 
ance that  drove  the  old  woman  screaming  into  the 
house. 

Tracy  followed  her  in,  laughing. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  mother,"  he  said.  "We're  not 
going  to  eat  you.  We've  had  tough  fare  enough." 

The  woman  crouched  terrified  on  the  bed  while 
Tracy  looked  about  the  single  room  of  the  house. 

He  found  a  loaf  of  bread  and  went  out.  In  the 
meantime  Merrill  had  knocked  over  a  couple  of  chick- 
ens. The  convicts  went  a  mile  back  in  the  timber, 
cooked  the  chickens  and  lay  there  during  the  afternoon, 
discussing  their  plans. 

At  ten  o'clock  that  night  they  held  up  J.  W.  Stewart 
of  South  Salem  on  the  highway  near  his  home.  They 
made  him  disrobe  and  divided  his  garments  amongst 
them.  Then,  making  him  swear  that  he  would  not  tell 
that  he  had  seen  them,  and  threatening  dire  vengeance 
if  he  broke  his  oath,  they  let  the  man  go.  He  kept 
quiet. 

A  few  minutes  later  an  expressman  was  held  up  in 
the  outskirts  of  Salem  and  from  him  Tracy  and  Merrill 
secured  clothing  enough  to  finally  discard  their  prison 
raiment.  Entering  a  stable  within  a  few  yards  of  where 
they  held  the  expressman  up  they  took  two  horses 
and  started  north  toward  the  Washington  state  line. 
They  pressed  on  through  the  night  until  their  horses 
were  worn  out,  when  they  turned  them  loose. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day,  two  deputy  sheriffs 
riding  in  a  buggy,  returning  from  a  trip  to  the  north 
in  search  of  the  escaped  prisoners,  were  held  up  as 


118  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

they  were  passing  through  a  strip  of  timber,  twenty 
miles  north  and  west  of  Salem.  Tracy  stepped  boldly 
out  of  the  timber,  caught  them  unawares  and  wit 
pointed  rifle  shouted: 

"Hold  up !"    They  stopped.    "Now,  throw  up  you 
hands." 

Merrill  went  to  the  horse's  head  and  holding  his 
rifle  pointed  at  them,  compelled  the  men  to  jump  out 
of  the  buggy,  their  hands  still  in  the  air.  Tracy 
stepped  over  and  searched  the  sheriffs.  He  found  two 
revolvers  strapped  on  to  each  of  the  men.  These  he 
confiscated. 

Standing  behind  one  of  the  men  he  pulled  back  his 
coat  and  Merrill  saw  the  star  on  his  vest. 

"Hello,"  said  Dave,  "that's  a  copper,  Harry,  let 
me  take  a  shot  at  him." 

"Maybe  the  other  one  is  too,"  said  'Harry,  and  he 
pulled  back  his  coat. 

"Yes,  there's  two  of  'em." 

"Looking  for  us,  I  suppose,"  said  Harry,  pleasantly. 

"Not  in  particular,"  answered  one  of  the  men,  but 
both  he  and  his  companion  expected  nothing  better 
than  to  be  shot  to  death.  Tracy  took  their  stars  and 
what  money  and  papers  they  had,  and  said: 

"We'll  just  turn  you  fellows  loose  so  you  can  tell  the 
rest  of  them  what  happened  and  if  they  follow  too 
close  that  they  won't  get  the  chance  you  had." 

The  robbers  watched  the  men  walk  down  the  road 
some  distance,  then  jumped  into  the  buggy  themselves 
and  drove  north. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  119 


CHAPTER  XXL 


TRACY  AND  MERRILL  AMBUSH  A  POSSE — EIGHT  THOU- 
SAND    DOLLARS     REWARD— THE     MILITIA — 
A  PURSUIT. 


"There's  a  gang  of  men  coming  up  the  road  there, 
Harry,  and  I  guess  they're  looking  for  us." 

Dave  Merrill  was  standing  at  the  edge  of  the  timber 
on  the  brow  of  a  hill,  looking  back  down  the  road 
which  the  bandits  had  climbed  within  the  past  couple 
of  hours.  It  was  near  noon,  of  June  11.  In  the  early 
morning  they  had  driven  the  sheriff's  horse  and  buggy 
into  a  farmer's  yard,  with  a  proposition  to  trade 
horses.  The  place  was  deserted  but  for  a  boy  and 
a  young  girl.  Their  intention  had  been  to  trade  the 
horse  and  buggy  for  a  couple  of  horses  and  saddles. 

The  girl  explained  that  her  father  had  gone  out  with 
the  team,  looking  for  Harry  Tracy. 

"Well,  you  tell  him  when  he  comes  back/'  said 
Tracy,  laughing,  "that  he  might  better  be  at  home, 
trading  horses.  I'm  Harry  Tracy."  The  girl  shrank 
in  fright.  "Oh,  you  needn't  be  alarmed,"  said  Harry, 
"I'm  not  going  to  bite  you,  but  you  might  get  us  some- 
thing to  eat  and  we'll  pay  for  it." 

He  joked  with  the  trembling  girl  while  she  prepared 
them  the  meal  until  her  confidence  was  restored.  He 
gave  her  two  dollars  and  he  and  Merrill  left  afoot, 


120  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

the  sheriff's  horse  being  worn  out.  It  was  several 
hours  after  this  that  Merrill  saw  the  crowd  of  men 
riding  after  them  up  the  roadway. 

Tracy  looked  earnestly  down  the  trail  and  counted 
eight  men. 

"We  might  do  some  business  with  those  fellows," 
he  said,  "and  we  need  some  horses  anyway.  Let's 
shoot  'em  up  a  bit." 

Merrill  demurred. 

"I  don't  like  so  much  mixing  up,"  he  said,  "Let's 
get  north  of  here." 

"You  stick  to  me,  young  fellow,"  said  Tracy,  grimly. 

They  picked  out  a  position  behind  some  fallen  tim- 
ber at  a  bend  from  which  they  commanded  the  road 
without  being  seen. 

The  posse  was  composed  of  farmers  and  citizens 
of  the  nearby  town  of  Gervais.  Inspired  by  the  vari- 
ous rewards  which  at  this  time  amounted  to  $8,000, 
the  men  had  organized  themselves  for  a  man  hunt. 

They  had  stopped  at  the  farmhouse  at  which  Tracy 
and  Merrill  had  breakfasted  and  knew  that  the  bandits 
could  not  be  far  away  if  they  stuck  to  the  road.  If 
they  had  known  the  men  they  were  pursuing  they 
would  not  have  ridden  along  in  the  compact  body  they 
now  formed  as  they  came  up  the  hill.  They  were 
armed  with  shotguns  and  rifles,  to  which  they  were 
obviously  unused. 

The  men  were  laughing  and  talking  as  they  stopped 
to  breathe  their  horses  on  reaching  the  brow  of  the 
hill.  Several  of  them  were  in  the  act  of  filling  their 
pipes,  when  a  terrific  i7^ice,  within  a  few  feet  of  them, 
roared : 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  121 

"Throw  up  your  hands!" 

Instinctively  they  glanced  in  the  direction  of  the 
voice.  Harry  Tracy,  standing  on  a  log,  held  two  re- 
volvers pointed  at  the  group.  Beside  him  was  Merrill, 
his  cheek  laid  against  the  stock  of  a  Winchester,  his 
beady  eyes  gleaming  along  the  barrel. 

At  the  word  of  command,  three  of  the  men  dropped 
their  guns.  They  all  put  their  hands  up  to  the  limit. 

"You  fellows  are  looking  for  Harry  Tracy  and 
Dave  Merrill,  I  suppose,"  said  Tracy.  "Well  you've 
found  'em,"  he  continued,  "and  I  don't  see  that  it 
has  done  you  much  good.  We'd  ought  to  blow  your 
heads  off  but  the  country  needs  you  on  your  farms. 
Throw  those  guns  across  the  road  there,"  he  com- 
manded the  men,  who  still  held  their  weapons  in  the 
air.  "Now  dismount  and  get  off  on  this  side  of  your 
horses."  The  men  obeyed. 

"Now  march  off  back  down  the  road  there  and 
keep  going." 

Without  a  word  of  protest  the  posse  took  the  back 
track,  Tracy  and  Merrill  stepping  into  the  road  and 
keeping  them  covered.  When  the  men  of  the  posse 
had  proceeded  a  few  hundred  yards,  Tracy  and  Merrill 
picked  up  the  discarded  guns,  each  clambered  on  a 
horse  and,  leading  the  other  animals,  they  rode  down 
to  where  a  bridge  crossed  a  small  stream. 

Tracy  dismounted,  threw  the  captured  guns  into 
the  water,  unsaddled  the  led  horses,  drove  them  into 
the  nearby  timber  and  rode  off  along  the  trail. 

"Wasn't  that  better  than  to  let  those  suckers  go 


122  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

chasing  'round  with  firearms  until  they  hurt  them- 
selves or  somebody  else?"    Tracy  asked  Merrill. 

"I  guess  it  was,"  said  Dave,  "but  I  don't  like  monkey- 
ing around  in  this  country.     I'm  going  to  quit 
go  north." 

Tracy  looked  at  him  curiously,  but  said  nothing. 
Merrill  appeared  to  be  depressed,  but  in  Tracy's  man- 
ner, careless,  even  jocular,  as  it  were,  there  was  noth- 
ing to  show  that  he  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 
people  of  the  state  were  aroused  and  in  pursuit  of 
him. 

Public  sentiment  had  inspired  the  Governor  of 
Oregon  to  take  drastic  steps  to  effect  the  capture  of 
Tracy  and  his  companion.  He  ordered  the  state  militia 
officers  to  respond  to  calls  for  aid  from  the  sheriff  of 
any  county  who  required  it. 

The  warden  of  the  penitentiary  had  offered  a  per- 
sonal reward  for  the  capture  of  the  men.  The  county 
commissioners  at  Salem  had  added  to  this  reward. 
These  special  offers,  added  to  the  state  reward,  made 
the  capture  of  the  men  an  inducement  that  was  not 
likely  to  be  overlooked.  They  were  worth  $8,000  dead 
or  alive  to  their  captors. 

They  became  aware  of  their  value  when  they  were 
drawing  to  the  town  of  Gervais.  They  met  a  farmer 
driving  slowly  along  reading  a  newspaper.  Tracy 
stopped  him  and  took  the  paper,  saying  jokingly: 

"My  subscription  ran  out  a  few  years  ago  and  I 
have  to  get  my  papers  the  best  way  I  can." 

The  pair  turned  up  a  cross  road  and  pulled  up  in 
the  shade  while  Tracy  read. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  123 

'They're  getting  after  us  good,  Dave,"  he  said,  "the 
militia's  been  ordered  out." 

That  night  they  stopped  at  a  farmhouse  within  two 
miles  of  Gervais.  The  farmer  and  his  wife  they  drove 
into  the  loft  over  the  living  room  of  the  house,  from 
which  there  was  no  egress  except  by  a  stairway,  and 
slept  in  apparent  security  in  "the  farmer's  bed. 

They  were  astir  early  in  the  morning  and  after 
demanding  and  securing  a  good  breakfast,  started  to 
the  north. 

Soon  after  daybreak  they  met  a  young  fellow  com- 
ing from  town  and  stopped  to  inquire  the  news.  He 
took  them  to  be  members  of  the  posse  and  startled 
them  with  his  information. 

"They're  going  to  get  Tracy  and  Merrill  this  morn- 
ing," he  said.  "They  got  a  bunch  of  soldiers  at  Gervais 
last  night  and  they're  scattered  all  along  north  of 
here. 

"If  them  fellers  run  into  the  soldiers  they  won't  last 
long,"  he  added. 

"I  told  you  we'd  hang  around  here  considerable  too 
late,"  growled  Merrill. 

"Oh,  shut  up  and  come  along  with  me,"  was  Tracy's 
rejoiner. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  elder  of  the  bandits  climbed 
an  eminence  that  gave  him  a  view  of  the  little  town  of 
Gervais  and  the  country  to  the  north.  Here  and  there 
he  could  see  the  reflection  of  the  morning  sun  gleam- 
ing from  a  rifle  barrel  or  some  bright  portion  of  a 
soldier's  accoutrements.  The  line  of  miltiamen  ap- 
peared to  extend  for  a  couple  of  miles  east  and  west 


124  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

across  the  track  which  it  was  to  be  expected  he  and 
his  companion  would  follow  when  going  north. 

"Why,  we  can  ride  through  them  without  taking 
chance  on  a  shot,"  he  said. 

Merrill  was  too  anxious  to  get  into  the  state  of| 
Washington  to  demur  to  any  plan  that  involved  mov- 
ing to  the  north. 

"I'm  ready,"  he  said. 

They  were  within  a  mile  or  less  of  the  line  of  sol- 
diers. From  where  they  stood  a  road  ran  directly, 
north. 

They  rode  quietly  at  a  foot  pace  for  almost  a  mile 
without  challenge.  Both  carried  their  rifles  lying 
handily  across  their  saddles  before  them,  and  were  on 
the  qui  vive  for  a  challenge.  The  challenge  came. 

The  command  rang  out  sharp  and  clear  from  a 
soldier  who  stood  not  a  dozen  paces  away  at  the  edge- 
of  the  road.  For  answer  both  men  brought  their  rifle 
barrels  down  sharply  on  their  horses  flanks.  The 
animals  sprang  forward  and  Tracy  and  Merrill  began 
firing  rapidly  and  at  random,  after  the  first  shot  at 
the  soldier  in  front  of  them,  who  was  knocked  down 
by  Tracy's  horse  before  he  could  fire. 

Shooting  and  howling  madly,  the  men  dashed  along 
the  road,  and  presently  from  the  right  and  left  began 
a  desultory  fire  from  the  militiamen. 

A  depression  *  in  the  road  saved  them  from  the 
militiamen's  bullets,  and  a  half  hour  afterwards  they 
were  trotting  calmly  along  as  though  they  had  not 
just  run  the  gauntlet  of  a  cordon  of  250  soldiers. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  125 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


ON  TO  WASHINGTON  — CROSSING  THE  COLUMBIA — AN 
ASTONISHED  JAP. 


On  the  morning  of  June  14,  there  arrived  at  Oregon 
City,  on  the  Columbia  river,  a  quietly  but  well  dressed 
woman,  who  on  getting  off  the  train  asked  the  station 
agent  where  she  could  find  a  livery  stable. 

She  was  a  blonde,  her  language  and  manner  indi- 
cated refinement.  She  was  dressed  entirely  in  black, 
and  in  good  taste.  The  station  agent  offered  to  send 
for  the  liveryman  and  talked  with  the  woman  while 
she  was  waiting. 

"Has  there  been  anything  heard  of  Tracy  or  Merrill 
about  here?"  she  asked.  "I  have  to  drive  a  few  miles 
into  the  country  and  would  not  care  to  meet  them." 

The  station  agent,  large  and  important,  said  the 
men  were  in  the  neighborhood  but  there  were  posses 
out  who  would  soon  stop  them  and  the  country  was 
quite  quiet.  The  woman  told  the  livery-man  that  she 
wanted  a  single  horse  and  buggy. 

She  drove  to  the  southeast.  Four  miles  from 
Oregon  City  she  stopped  the  horse,  looked  at  her 
watch,  then,  seeing  some  little  distance  ahead  a  spot 
in  the  road  that  was  shaded  by  trees,  she  drove  on  and 
halted  again.  This  time  her  manner  showed  that  she 
was  ready  to  wait.  For  a  half  hour  the  woman  sat 


126  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

quietly  in  the  buggy.  At  the  end  of  that  time  she  was 
aroused  by  a  sharp  whistle  coming  from  the  woods 
on  her  right.  She  stood  up  and  looked  in  the  direc- 
tion from  which  the  sound  came,  then  waved  her  hand 
and  waited. 

Presently  two  men  appeared  at  the  edge  of  the 
timber.  The  woman  sprang  from  the  buggy  and 
greeted  them  both,  the  one  with,  "Oh,  Dave,  I'm  glad 
to  see  you/'  then  she  turned  and  was  clasped  in  the 
arms  of  the  tall  man. 

The  horse  was  led  into  the  timber  a  short  distance 
and  the  three  sat  down  and  talked  earnestly.  They 
were  seen  by  a  farmer's  boy  who  passed.  Before  noon 
the  woman  returned  to  Oregon  City  and  took  the  next 
train  to  Portland. 

Just  after  dinner  the  same  day  two  men  appeared 
at  the  door  of  the  house  belonging  to  the  family  whose 
boy  had  seen  the  woman  and  two  men  a  mile  south 
on  the  road  and  asked  for  something  to  eat. 

Kelso,  the  farmer,  asked  them  roughly  if  they  could 
pay  for  it  and  the  older  and  larger  man  of  the  two 
said: 

"Don't  you  worry  about  that.    Get  out  the  grub." 

"I  reckon  you're  some  o'  the  men  that's  lookin'  for 
Tracy"  said  the  farmer. 

"Not  exactly,"  said  the  man  whom  he  had  addressed, 
"because  I  happen  to  be  Tracy  myself." 

The  farmer  made  what  apologies  he  could.  Tracy 
was  not  as  good  natured  as  he  was  ordinarily  in  deal- 
ing with  the  farming  people.  He  gruffly  ordered  the 
man  to  hurry  with  the  meal. 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  127 

When  they  had  eaten,  Tracy  picked  up  his  rifle — 
Merrill  did  not  carry  one  now — and  said  to  Kelso : 

"I  expect  we'll  Have  to  borrow  a  couple  of  horses 
from  you." 

Kelso  turned  pale.    He  had  but  the  two  horses. 

"I'm  only  a  poor  man — "  be  began. 

"D you,  get  out  the  horses/'  roared  Tracy, 

turning  the  gun  on  the  man. 

The  unfortunate  farmer  led  them  to  the  stable  and 
led  out  a  couple, of  horses.  Merrill  threw  a  couple  of 
saddles  that  hung  on  a  peg  over  the  animals'  backs. 
As  the  bandits  mounted  Kelso  made  a  despairing  ges- 
ture. Tracy  pointed  his  gun  at  him  but  something 
stayed  the  finger  that  rested  on  the  trigger.  Kelso 
shrank  back  and  threw  up  one  hand.  His  wife,  stand- 
ing at  the  back  door  of  the  house,  screamed. 

Tracy  and  Merrill  rode  away.  They  had  not  pro- 
ceeded a  hundred  yards  when  Tracy  pulled  up  and 
said : 

"What's  the  use  of  taking  these  old  skates  from  that 
fellow  ?"  referring  to  the  horses. 

"I  was  thinking  about  that,"  replied  Dave. 

The  two  turned  around,  rode  back  into  the  farm- 
yard, got  off  the  horses  and  turned  them  loose.  Kelso 
had  betaken  himself  to  the  woods  when  he  saw  the 
bandits  returning,  thinking  they  purposed  killing  him. 
Tracy  laughed  good  naturedly  as  he  noticed  the  man 
running.  The  woman  came  out  and  tried  to  thank 
them. 

"That's  all  right,"  said  Tracy,  "we  can't  lose  any- 
way." 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  129 

A  mile  farther  north  on  the  road  the  men  saw  a 
man  driving  a  team  attached  to  a  buggy  toward  them. 

'This  looks  pretty  good,"  remarked  Tracy.  With- 
out further  words  they  stationed  themselves  beside  the 
road. 

In  the  buggy  was  a  rotund  and  rosy  old  man,  well 
mown  in  the  country  for  the  extent  of  his  wealth  and 
the  number  of  farms  and  acres  of  timber  he  owned. 
The  bandits  did  not  know  the  man  nor  did  they  know 
anything  about  his  wealth.  They  had  been  cursing 
;hemselves  for  fools  in  giving  up  the  horses  they  took 
from  Kelso  and  there  was  little  chance  of  another 
victim  meeting  with  any  consideration  at  their  hands. 

"Halt,  and  don't  choke."  The  latter  part  of  the 
command  was  not  uncalled  for.  At  the  word  of 
command  uttered  in  the  tone  of  ferocity  that  Tracy 
habitually  used,  old  man  Martin  had  turned  purple. 
But  at  the  sight  of  Tracy's  rifle  and  the  two  guns 
in  the  hands  of  the  other  bandit  he  instinctively  pulled 
up  the  horses.  The  spirited  animals  swerved  at  the 
sight  of  the  man  and  were  very  near  upsetting  the 
DUggy.  Tracy  caught  the  nigh  horse  by  the  bridle. 

"It's  a  shame  to  make  an  old  fellow  like  you  walk," 
said  Tracy,  "but  you  look  as  though  some  exercise 
might  do  you  good.  Just  jump  out."  He  made  a 
motion  with  his  rifle  and  Martin  obeyed  the  command 
with  some  alacrity. 

'It's  too  bad  you're  not  going  in  our  direction,  we 
might  give  you  a  lift,"  said  Tracy,  "but  it  looks  as 
though  it  was  up  to  you  to  walk." 


130  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

"You're  Tracy,"  said  Martin,  who  recovered  his 
breath  as  he  viewed  the  prospect  of  losing  his  blooded 
team. 

"Yes  I'm  Tracy,  let  me  introduce  my  friend  Mr. 
Merrill/'  Dave  bowed  with  mock  solemnity. 

"Well  now,  you  seem  to  have  some  sense,"  said 
Martin,  "and  I'll  make  a  deal  with  you.  You  send 
that  team  back  when  you  get  to  the  river — I  suppose 
that's  where  you're  heading  for — and  I'll  send  you  a 
check." 

Tracy  and  Merrill  were  astonished  by,  the  proposal 
tion. 

"Well,  you've  got  nerve,"  said  Merrill. 

"Oh,  I've  been  stuck  up  before." 

"Well  this  is  going  to  be  a  new  experience  for  you 
anyway,"  said  Tracy.  "How  much  have  you  got  on 
you?" 

'  'Bout  seventy-five  dollars,"  said  Martin. 

"Watch  any  good?" 

"Not  much,"  said  Martin  producing  a  silver  watch. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,"  said  Tracy,  "I'll  let  you 
drive  the  hottest  pair  of  young  fellows  in  these  parts 
to  the  Columbia  river  and  only  charge  you  seventy- 
five  for  the  privilege — and  you  can  have  your  team." 

"It's  a  go,"  replied  Martin  promptly. 

"And  if  you  happen  to  bat  an  eye  when  we  pass  a 
house  remember  that  your  slats  are  not  bullet  proof 
and  both  Dave  and  I  will  plug  you." 

"I'm  old  enough  to  have  sense,"  returned  Martin. 
He  handed  over  the  money.  The  bandits  stepped  into 
the  buggy,  he  climbed  in  and  forced  himself  into  a 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  131 

seat  between  them,  and  in  this  fashion  the  ill-assorted 
trio  reached  the  banks  of  the  Columbia  river  in  the 
early  evening.  Tracy  kept  his  word  and  sent  old 
Martin  away  safe  with  his  horses. 

'There's  God's  country  over  there,"  said  Merrill, 
pointing  to  the  Washington  bank  of  the  river,  just 
visible  in  the  gloom. 

"If  it  is  I  don't  see  what  you  and  I  want  over 
there,"  said  Tracy. 

In  the  gathering  darkness  they  wandered  along  the 
bank  of  the  river,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout.  The  wind 
was  blowing  a  gale  and  there  was  the  promise  of  an 
ugly  night  in  the  sky.  In  the  timber  on  the  river  bank 
they  came  upon  a  little  cabin.  Fastened  to  a  little 
wharf  extending  into  the  water  was  a  yawl  boat  in 
which  a  mast  had  been  stopped. 

'Tut  there  for  us — to  take  us  to  God's  country/' 
said  Tracy  pointing  to  the  boat. 

The  waves  were  rolling  high  on  the  river.  Neither 
of  the  men  knew  anything  about  handling  a  boat. 

"Maybe  there's  somebody  in  the  house,"  said  Merrill. 

Without  waiting  to  knock,  Tracy  beat  the  crazy 
door  of  the  shanty  in  with  the  butt  of  his  rifle.  A 
frightened  cry  announced  that  the  place  was  occupied 
and  presently  they  made  out  that  somebody  was  beg- 
ging for  his  life  in  totally  unintelligible  English. 
Merrill  struck  a  light. 

Crouched  in  the  middle  of  the  room  was  a  little 
Japanese  in  a  ludicrous  costume.  He  had  tumbled  out 
of  bed  and  only  desired  that  he  might  be  spared  by  the 
very  excellent  gentlemen  who  had  honored  his 


132  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

wretched  abode.     Tracy  kicked  him  into  an  upright 
position  and  made  the  Jap  understand  that  no  ham 
would  come  to  him  if  he  would  take  the  honorable 
gentlemen  across  the  river  and  do  it  in  a  hurry.    The 
Jap  looked  out  and  protested  that  it  was  impossible. 

"Stop  chinning,  and  hurry/'  said  Tracy.  At  the 
moment  he  caught  sight  of  a  bottle  of  Canadian  stand- 
ing upon  a  shelf.  Intemperance  made  no  part  of 
Tracy's  faults  ordinarily,  but  he  was  in  an  ugly  mood. 
He  knocked  the  neck  off  the  bottle  and  poured  out 
a  cupful  of  the  liquor. 

"Have  a  drink,"  he  said  to  Merrill.    Dave  refused. 

"There's  something  the  matter  with  you,"  remarked 
Tracy  in  an  ugly  tone,  "and  you  had  better  get  over 
it."  Merrill  made  no  reply  and  Tracy  drank  again. 

He  compelled  the  Japanese,  who  was  frightened 
speechless  by  the  terrifying  figure  and  ferocious  tone 
of  the  man,  to  hoist  the  sail  of  his  little  fishing  boat. 
Tracy  took  the  helm,  Merrill  crouched  in  the  bow  and 
the  fisherman — the  only  one  of  the  three  who  knew 
anything  of  the  management  of  a  boat,  sat  on  a  thwart 
amid  ship. 

And  in  this  fashion  they  crossed  the  Columbia.  A 
hundred  times  the  little  craft  was  almost  swamped 
and  the  appeals  of  the  Jap  brought  on  him  threats  of 
instant  death  from  Tracy  if  he  did  not  shut  up. 

Merrill  sat  gloomily  silent  in  the  bow  of  the  boat. 
Perhaps  he  hoped  that  the  boat  might  founder  and  end 
his  miserable  existence. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 


133 


While  death  was  in  the  air  and  the  waves  dashed 
over  them,  Tracy  sat  at  the  tiller  and  joked.  That 
they  finally  were  thrown  out  on  the  Washington  shore 
was  due  solely  to  the  fact  that  the  wind  blew  in  that 
direction 


134  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


IN    WASHINGTON — BLOODHOUNDS    AT    FAULT— SHERIFF 
BERT  BLESCHER  IS  SHOT. 


Merrill  was  filled  with  the  idea  that  they  would 
have  less  trouble  in  getting  away  from  pursuit  in  the 
country  near  Vancouver  because  he  knew  it  all. 

Tracy  was  for  turning  west  and  making  for  the 
wilderness  at  the  foot  of  the  Cascades  where  it  was 
almost  certain  they  might  defy  the  officers  of  the  law. 
The  men  quarrelled  about  this  repeatedly  that  Sun- 
day, their  first  day  in  the  northern  state. 

"This  country  is  as  thick  with  men  as  Portland  is.. 
Let's  duck  for  the  timber/'  said  Tracy. 

"Come  with  me,"  insisted  Merrill,  "or  let  me  go.  I 
have  friends  here." 

"No,  you  can't  lose  me/'  returned  Tracy  viciously. 
"You  and  I  are  going  to  travel  together,  and  we're 
going  to  travel  on  the  square."  He  was  afraid  that 
Merrill  might  compound  with  the  authorities  and  give 
him  up. 

If  Merrill  had  the  impression  that  it  was  going  to 
be  easier  traveling  for  them  in  Washington  he  was 
mistaken.  The  border  counties  of  the  state  were 
aroused.  The  rewards  held  good  in  Washington,  it 
was  supposed,  and  every  man  who  had  nerve,  or 
thought  he  had  nerve,  was  engaged  in  the  man  hunt. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  135 

Before  they  had  been  on  the  Washington  side  of  the 
river  three  hours  their  presence  was  known.  Sun- 
day morning  they  arrived  at  a  farmhouse  while  the 
people  were  away  at  church.  They  leisurely  cooked 
some  food,  ransacked  the  place,  found  some  money 
and  clothing,  bathed  and  shaved  themselves  and  made 
off  unmolested. 

They  stopped  at  another  farmhouse,  also  unoccupied, 
but  did  not  enter  the  dwelling.  In  the  stable  they 
found  a  couple  of  horses,  but  only  one  saddle.  They 
mounted  and  made  off,  keeping  to'  the  country  road. 

About  a  mile  from  the  house  they  met  a  man  and 
woman  with  their  two  children  walking.  The  woman 
and  children  fled  at  sight  of  the  bandits,  the  man  stood 
his  ground. 

"I  suppose  you  know  that  they're  my  horses,"  he 
said,  pointing  to  their  steeds. 

"I  didn't  know/'  said  Tracy.  "They  might  have 
been,  but  they  are  ours  now." 

"You  might  have  helped  yourself  to  somebody  else's 
stock.  I  can't  spare  them." 

"Only  horses  you've  got?"  asked  Merrill. 

"Yes.  I  wanted  to  let  them  rest  and  we  walked  to 
church." 

"I  guess  we  can  get  along  without  them,  Dave," 
said  Tracy.  They  ""dismounted  and  handed  over  the 
horses. 

"Tell  the  kids  Harry  Tracy  and  Dave  Merrill  don't 
want  to  eat  them,"  said  Tracy,  pointing  to  the  timber 
where  the  little  ones  could  be  seen  peering  out. 

The  man  mounted  one  of  the  horses  and  rode  about 


136  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

alarming  the  country  and  sending  word  of  the  arrival 
of  the  bandits  to  the  sheriff. 

Posses  in  the  form  of  neighborhood  clubs  had  al- 
ready been  formed  in  anticipation  of  the  coming  of  the 
bandits.  Farmers  and  the  men  living  in  little  towns 
had  formed  syndicates  with  the  object  of  hunting  the 
bandits  and  dividing  the  rewards  in  case  of  their  cap- 
ture. 

That  same  afternoon  one  enterprising  native,  who 
had  a  couple  of  hounds,  took  his  dogs  out  and  put 
them  on  the  track  of  the  bandits  at  the  point  where 
they  gave  up  the  stolen  horses.  It  was  a  fortunate 
thing  for  the  pursued — and  possibly  for  the  pursuers 
— that  Tracy  and  Merrill  were  on  foot. 

The  dogs  were  followed  by  a  numerous  party  of 
well-armed  men.  The  men  were  lying  under  some 
trees  on  a  knoll  that  afternoon  late  when  they  heard 
the  baying  of  hounds,  Tracy  had  heard  the  sound  be- 
fore. 

"Bloodhounds/'  he  ejaculated,  "by  G— ."  They  soon 
descried  a  dozen  mounted  men  following  the  hounds 
along  the  road  they  had  followed. 

Without  hurrying  they  would  not  have  moved  at 
all  but  stopped  and  gave  battle  to  the  pursuers  if  Tracy 
could  have  had  his  way — they  crossed  the  high  ground 
to  where  a  slough  or  swamp  filled  with  rushes  could 
be  made  out  in  a  valley. 

Tracy  waded  into  the  slough,  Merrill  following. 
The  pursuers  were  in  sight  and  Tracy  wanted  to  take 
a  shot  at  them  but  Merrill  dissuaded  him. 

Steping  from  one  peaty  hummock  in  the  swamp  to 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  137 

another  they  made  their  way  along  for  a  mile.  Then 
wading  to  the  shore  on  a  log  they  caught  the  branches 
of  a  tree,  swung  themselves  into  it  and  dropped  on 
dry  land,  having  first  taken  off  their  shoes. 

The  hounds  lost  the  scent  in  the  water  and  that 
party  lost  all  chance  of  fingering  the  reward. 

The  following  Tuesday  the  fugitives — though  their 
progress  was  rather  leisurely  to  admit  of  that  descrip- 
tion being  applied  to  them — were  lying  beside  a  de- 
serted log  house  sleeping  when  they  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  being  surprised. 

Tracy's  cat-like  senses  saved  them.  <  He  sat  bolt 
upright  as  the  sound  of  hoof  beats  came  to  them. 

The  place  they  had  chosen  to  rest  in  was  at  the  end 
of  an  almost  obliterated  trail  at  the  top  of  a  little  val- 
ley. They  had  taken  some  chickens  from  a  farmyard  a 
few  hours  earlier  and  had  cooked  and  eaten  them. 
They  had  made  no  attempt  to  hide  their  trail  and  when 
Sheriff  Bert  Blescher  and  four  other  mounted  men 
followed  them  it  was  not  difficult  to  trace  the  bandits. 
Had  the  pursuers  taken  the  necessary  precautions  for 
a  quiet  approach  they  might  have  escaped  the  ambus- 
cade that  Tracy  prepared. 

As  it  was  the  bandits  were  hidden  by  the  side  of  the 
log  house  and  quite  ready  when  the  party  arrived 
within  a  hundred  yards.  Tracy  allowed  the  party  to 
approach  within  fifty  yards.  The  trail  was  rugged 
and  narrow  and  the  men  were  riding  three  abreast, 
Blescher  in  the  middle  of  the  front  rank. 

"I'll  take  the  fellow  in  the  middle,  you  get  the  one  on 


138 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


the  right/'  remarked  the  elder  bandit,  as  coolly  as 
though  he  were  ordering  a  meal. 

"Hail  'em  first/'  said  Dave. 

"Your  liver  is  bleaching/'  said  Tracy  with  a  sneer, 
btu  he  stood  up  and  shouted : 

"Halt." 

At  the  command  the  horses  of  the  members  of  the 
posse  reared  and  turned.  The  men  were  rattled.  As 
they  turned  Tracy  lost  command  of  himself  and  fired. 
They  could  not  see  Tracy,  even  if  he  had  been  facing 
them.  At  the  first  shot  Bles,cher  fell  and  at  the  same 
instant  his  horse  stumbled. 

There  was  a  hail  of  shot  and  the  four  members  of 
the  posse  could  not,  or  did  not  try  to  control  their 
horses.  They  raced  back  down  the  trail  leaving 
Blescher. 

The  timber  was  heavy  and  Tracy  did  not  try  to  see 
what  the  effect  of  his  work  was  but,  urged  by  Merrill, 
turned  and  made  off  in  the  timber. 

Blescher  was  picked  up  later  by  his  own  party. 
His  wound  put  him  out  of  the  hunt. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  139 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

IN  SOCIETY — A    CHESTERFIELDIAN     HORSETHIEI^ — REST- 
ING— OUTWITTING  A  POSSE. 


"Good  evening,  ladies." 

Two  women,  one  elderly,  the  other  young  and  good- 
looking,  turned  sharply  at  the  salutation.  They  were 
sitting  on  the  porch  of  a  farmhouse  near  Ridgefield  and 
had  not  noticed  the  approach  of  any  one.  As  they 
turned  they  saw  a  tall,  well  built  man,  dressed  in  a 
short  coat,  negligee  shirt  and  wearing  his  trousers 
tucked  into  his  boots.  A  short  moustache  of  but  a  few 
days'  growth  shaded  his  upper  lip.  His  eyes  were 
clear  and  laughing.  His  hair  was  just  long  enough  to 
wave  slightly  but  was  unkempt.  He  held  a  broad 
brimmed  hat  in  his- hand.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
man's  appearance  to  inspire  terror  except  for  the  fact 
that  he  carried  a  Winchester  in  his  left  hand  and  two 
revolver  butts  peeped  from  his  belt.  The  women  arose 
hurriedly. 

"Good  evening,"  said  the  younger  one. 

"My  friend  and  I — he  is  bashful  and  staid  out  back 
of  the  house — thought  perhaps  you  would  be  good 
enough  to  give  us  a  meal.  We  are  travelers." 

"You  are  Harry  Tracy,"  said  the  younger  of  the  two 
women. 

"I  don't  know  whether  to  feel  flattered  or  not,  but 


140  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

I  could  not  tell  you  a  lie,"  he  bowed  awkwardly,  "I 
Tracy." 

"O-o-o-h,"  shrieked  the  elder  woman. 

"Keep  still  mother,  he  won't  hurt  us,"  said  the  girl 
Tracy  laughed. 

"I  must  have  an  awful  reputation  if  the  sight  of  m< 
is  enough  to  send  your  mother  into  hysterics.  Let 
be  comfortable  for  once  and  then  when  we  are  gon< 
you  can  send  your  pa  after  us." 

"We  are  not  policemen,"  said  the  girl,  throwing  u 
her  head. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  rejoined  the  bandit.  "I  wa 
only  joking  and  was  very  sure  that  I  need  fear  nothin 
from  you.  And  now  are  we  to  have  that  invitation  t 
supper  or  will  that  bashful  friend  of  mine  be  compel! 
to  go  and  rob  a  hen  roost  ?" 

"Certainly,  sir,"  said  the  trembling  elderly  woman. 
She  went  into  the  house  to  prepare  a  meal  and  found 
Merrill  sitting  moodily  in  the  kitchen.  He  answered 
roughly  when  she  spoke  to  him  and  the  woman  went 
quietly  at  work  getting  the  meal. 

Tracy  was  almost  merry  as  they  sat  at  the  table. 
They   ate   ravenously   as   a   matter,  of   course,   even 
Tracy's   assumed   good   manners   could  not   restrai 
them.     The  mother  called  the  girl  out  of  the  nxx 
presently  and  Merrill  said : 

"You'd  better  watch  your  friends,  they've  probably 
gone  out  to  get  help." 

"They'd  have  to  get  a  whole  lot  of  help  to  drive 
me  away  from  this,"  answered  Tracy.  "Besides,  that 
girl  wouldn't  move  a  step  to  have  us  taken — at  least 
to  have  me  taken.  I  don't  think  she's  struck  on  you." 


en 

: 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  141 

"There's  a  couple  of  good  horses  in  the  stable  and 
some  saddles,"  remarked  Dave.  "I  suppose  your  good 
manners  will  not  allow  you  to  take  them/' 

"I'll  pay  for  them,"  said  Harry. 

"Now,  Miss  E-r-r — what  is  your  name?"  Harry  said 
to  the  girl,  who  stood  outside. 

"Walters,"  she  replied. 

"Well,  Miss  Walters,  I  want  to  thank  you  for  that 
excellent  meal  but  I'm  afraid  you  won't  think  me 
sincere  when  I  tell  you  that  my  friend  here  insists  on 
borrowing  a  couple  of  your  father's  horses." 

"A  horse  thief,  too,"  said  the  girl  boldly. 

"Well  I  might  be  if  necessary  but  I'm  going  to  leave 
a  deposit  with  you  for  the  return  of  the  horses."  He 
took  a  small  roll  of  bills  from  his  pocket, — part  of 
what  they  had  taken  from  Martin — and  drew  out  a  ten 
dollar  bill.  "I  won't  take  the  horses  far  and  they  will 
be  returned  to  you — I  give  you  my  word." 

"I  don't  know  about  your  word,"  said  the  girl. 

"Then  I'm  afraid  the  money  will  have  to  speak  for 
me,"  said  Tracy.  Merrill  led  the  horses  out  saddled. 
The  elderly  woman  began  crying. 

"I  wouldn't  take  the  horses  but  I  can't  help  it,"  said 
Tracy,  "but  I'll  see  that  they  come  back  if  I  have  to 
bring  them  myself."  They  jumped  into  the  saddles, 
Tracy  raised  his  hat,  Dave  sat  unmoved. 

"Good  evening,"  said  the  desperado.  "I'm  sorry  I 
can't  leave  you  with  a  better  impression  of  us/'  The 
girl  turned  away  without  answering. 

"Seems  good  to  be  decent,  once  in  a  while,  don't  it 


142  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

Dave,"  said  Tracy,  presently.  Merrill  grunted.  Tracy 
looked  hard  at  him. 

"I  think,"  he  said  slowly,  that  you  and  I  are  going  to 
have  trouble,  Dave/'  he  said  after  a  while.  The  other 
made  no  response. 

They  rode  the  horses  hard  all  that  night.  The  next 
morning  they  left  them  tied  by  the  roadside  and  on  the 
saddle  of  one  was  this  note : 

"Return  these  horses  to  Walters'  place,  near  Ridge- 
field,  and  receive  ten  dollars  reward/' 

With  incredible  cunning  the  men  avoided  the  in- 
numerable posses  on  the  roads  and  that  evening  turned 
off  to  a  lonesome  looking  shanty  just  visible  in  the  tim- 
ber. The  place  had  been  occupied  by  a  homesteader, 
who  was  absent.  It  contained  some  scant  furniture 
and  cooking  utensils.  Here  they  remained  quiet  for 
four  days,  while  the  officers  were  scouring  the  country 
looking  for  them. 

Tracy  walked  into  Lacenter  one  day  and  bought  sup- 
plies but  was  not  recognized. 

They  started  north  again,  stealing  two  horses  out  of 
a  barn  near  Lacenter.  From  a  house  they  took  a  rifle 
and  some  ammunition,  while  the  owner  was  away. 

Traveling  through  a  thickly  settled  country  they  so 
completely  kept  out  of  sight  that  it  was  thought  they 
had  gone  east  towards  the  Cascades.  They  were 
recognized  near  Chevalis  on  the  morning  of  June  29, 
and  a  posse  sent  after  them. 

Twenty  men  surrounded  a  thick  bunch  of  timber 
in  which  the  bandits  were  hiding,  but  the  members 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  143 

of  the  posse  hesitated  to  approach,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  man. 

His  name  was  Warner.  He  pushed  into  the  tim- 
ber and  came  suddenly  upon  the  outlaws.  He  was 
greeted  with  a  volley  of  bullets,  and  turning,  fled. 
His  friends  in  ambush  saw  his  coming,  and  think- 
ing the  desperadoes  were  trying  to  rush  their  line 
they  fired  on  Warner.  The  man  escaped  the  bullets 
of  the  outlaws  but  was  shot  by  his  friends. 

During  the  night  Tracy  and  Merrill  left  their 
horses  in  the  woods  and  crept  through  the  line  of 
men  watching  them — there  were  fifty  in  the  cordon 
by  this  time — made  their  way  to  a  farmhouse  a 
mile  away,  stole  fresh  horses  and  rode  oil  to  the 
north. 


J44  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


A    QUARREL — THE    DUEL — A    DASTARD    SHOT — THE 
DEATH  OF  MERRILL. 


Two  men  stood  on  the  track  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  railroad  near  the  little  town  of  Tenino  in 
the  early  morning  of  July  1. 

They  were  travel  worn  and  desperate  looking. 
Both  carried  rifles.  Not  a  man  or  woman  in  the 
country  for  a  hundred  miles  about  would  have 
recognized  them  for  Tracy  and  Merrill,  whose 
audacity  had  kept  every  farmer  and  small  store- 
keeper on  the  qui  vive  for  three  weeks. 

But  the  fullness  of  time  had  brought  its  revenge 
and  the  day  of  doom  had  come  for  one  of  them. 

Dave  Merrill's  face  was  gray  in  the  morning 
light. 

"I  tell  you,"  he  was  saying,  "that  I  am  not  going 
into  that  town  and  that  I  am  tired  of  being  hunted 
as  though  I  were  a  dog." 

"Well,  you  are  a  dog — a  cur,  too,  I  think,"  said 
Tracy. 

"We  would  be  better  off  if  we  were  separated," 
said  Merrill.  "Single  handed  we  might  have 
chance  to  get  out  of  the  country  but  I  don't  thinl 
you  want  to  get  away." 

"I  don't.     I'll  make  some  of  those  curs  that  are 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  145 

chasing  me  wish  they  had  never  been  born.  I  won't 
be  taken  and  I'll  make  the  state  of  Washington  re- 
member Harry  Tracy  as  long  as  history  is  read." 

"Then  you  can  do  it  alone,"  said  Merrill. 

"Here  comes  a  train,  let's  get  out  of  this."  In 
silence  they  left  the  track,  and  passed  into  the  tim- 
ber for  a  mile,  they  continued  on  in  a  way  that 
would  bring  them  around  Tenino  by  making  a  de- 
tour. 

Tracy,  who  had  remained  persistently  behind  the 
other,  stopped  as  they  came  to  an  opening  in  the 
forest.  It  was  on  the  side  of  an  elevation  but  the 
ground  was  comparatively  level.  A  few  logs  lying 
about  showed  that  the  lumbermen  had  been  busy 
the  previous  winter. 

Tracy  sat  down  on  a  log  with  his  rifle  across  his 
knees.  Merrill  rested  a  few  feet  away.  The  sun 
was  coming  up  over  the  trees  and  the  morning  air 
was  heavy  with  a  humid  heat.  Merrill  shivered  in 
spite  of  the  heat. 

"What  are  you  thinking  of,"  asked  Tracy. 

"Of  what  we  were  talking.  I  tell  you  I  am  going 
to  give  it  up." 

"You  want  to  get  over* to  Seattle  and  make  a 
deal  with  Cudihee,  I  suppose."  Cudihee  was  the 
most  energetic  sheriff  in  the  country,  and  the  only 
one  for  whom  Tracy  had  any  respect— fear  he  did 
not  feel. 

"You  have  no  reason  for  thinking  anything  of  the 
kind,"  said  Merrill.  "D you,  I'm  as  square  as 


146  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

you  are.  If  I'd  never  seen  you  I  wouldn't  have  been 
in  this  fix." 

"No,  and  if  I  hadn't  been  along  you  would  still 
have  been  rotting  in  the  pen." 

"I  wish  to  God  I  was  there  now." 

"Well,  you  ain't  there,  and  you've  got  to  stick  to 
me,  or — "  the  pause  contained  a  menace  that  Mer- 
rill felt. 

"Or  I  suppose  you'll  take  a  shot  at  me,"  he  con- 
cluded. 

"Well,  yes,  if  you  like."  He  fingered  the  trigger 
of  his  rifle. 

"I  tell  you  we'd  better  divide  lip,"  said  Merrill, 
sullenly. 

Tracy  eyed  him  for  a  minute.  Then  he  said,  very 
calmly : 

"If  you  don't  get  me  I'll  get  you.  Let's  settle  it 
now." 

Merrill  looked  up  eagerly. 

"You  mean  split." 

"I  mean  that  only  one  of  us  will  leave  this  place." 

They  both  stood  up.  Merrill's  face  was  ghastly ; 
Tracy  was  unperturbed,  as  though  he  proposed  tc 
steal  a  horse. 

"What  chance  would  I  have  with  you?"  he  saic 
trembling. 

"I'll  make  it  an  even  break.  Come  out  here  in  the 
sun,  stand  back  to  back.  Cock  your  rifle,  I  wil 
mine,  walk  ten  paces  and  turn  and  shoot." 

"My  God,  Harry,  I  can't  do  that." 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  147 

"If  you  don't  I'll  blow  your  block  off  where  you 
stand." 

Merrill  stepped  out  to  where  his  companion  in 
crime  stood. 

Tracy  said  afterwards  that  he  intended  to  give 
Merrill  an  even  chance.  He  admitted  that  he  only 
took  the  advantage  that  he  did  because  he  *stpected 
surely  that  Merrill  would. 

"This  is  on  the  square,  so  help  you  God/'  faltered 
Dave. 

"Yes,  are  you  ready?  They  stood  back  to  back. 
Each  carried  his  rifle  in  the  right  hand,  the  muzzle 
down,  the  weapon  cocked. 

"One,  two,  three,"  counted  Tracy.  At  the  word 
three  he  strode  off  on  the  left  foot,  Merrill  did  the 
same. 

Who  can  tell  what  thoughts  filled  the  minds  of 
the  men  as  they  paced  off  on  that  awful  march  to 
death.  Tracy  counting  the  steps  aloud.  What  was 
in  the  mind  of  Merrill  ?  Did  he  contemplate  treach- 
ery, was  the  ascendancy  of  the  other  so  complete 
that  he  feared  to  execute  what  he  contemplated? 

Tracy's  keen  ears  were  strained  to  hear  the  foot- 
steps of  the  other. 

"Six,  seven,"  he  counted  slowly. 

"Eight,"  he  said  calmly. 

Then  like  a  flash  he  turned.  The  movement 
brought  his  rifle  up  on  a  straight  line.  He  fired 
from  his  side,  with  the  right  hand  clasping  his  gun. 

Merrill  gave  a  frightful  shriek,  threw  his  hands 
up,  dropped  his  gun  and  fell  on  his  back. 


148  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

Tracy  ran  to  give  him  a  finishing  shot  if  neces- 
sary. It  was  not  needed.  The  death  rattle  was  in 
Merrill's  throat.  The  sun  shone  in  his  unseeing 
eyes,  but  he  felt  the  presence  of  his  executioner. 
Tracy  pointed  the  gun  at  his  head  but  hesitated. 

"You  cur/'  said  the  dying  man,  "you  treacherous 
cur.  Curse — ."  He  gasped  and  was  dead.  Tracy 
waited  for  a  moment,  then  with  the  muzzle  of  his 
rifle  he  straightened  out  one  of  the  dead  man's 
legs,  which  was  bent  under  him. 

He  stepped  back  from  the  body  and  looked  at  the 
corpse. 

"I  thought  that  would  have  to  be  the  finish,"  he 
said.  And  turning  he  stepped  out  of  the  sunlight 
and  disappeared  in  the  darkness  of  the  forest. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  149 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


STEALING  RELAYS  OF  HORSES — SIX  MEN  HELD  UP — 
TRACY  TURNS  PIRATE  AND  CAPTURES  A  LAUNCH. 


There  was  nothing  in  Tracy's  manner  to  indicate 
that  he  had  left  that  dread  object  lying  with  eyes 
I  staring  into  the  sky,  behind  him  in  the  woods  when, 
twenty  minutes  after  shooting  Merrill,  the  bandit 
emerged  from  the  woods  onto  the  road  beside  the 
Northern  Pacific  tracks,  just  outside  of  Tenino,  and 
stopped  a  passing  horseman. 

His  manner  was  careless,  even  debonair  as  he 
threw  his  rifle  into  position  over  the  hollow  of  his 
arm  and  commanded  the  horseman  to  halt. 

"I  don't  know  who  you  are,"  said  Tracy,  "but  I 
need  that  horse.  You  duck." 

The  bandit's  manner  left  no  room  for  argument 
and  the  rider  dismounted. 

"Got  any  change  about  you  ?"  Tracy  said. 

The  man  who  was  a  farm  hand,  said  with  trem- 
bling lips  that  he  had  not.  Tracy  thrust  his  rifle 
barrel  against  the  man's  chest,  pushing  him  out  of 
the  way,  then  mounted  and  rode  north. 

That  same  afternoon  he  stopped  a  man  in  a  buggy 
driving  a, horse  and  stopped  him  with  a  careless: 
"I  need  that  horse.  Unhitch." 

The  man  gave  some  sign  of  resisting  and  Tracy 


150  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

fired  a  shot  from  a  revolver  through  the  back  of 
the  seat  against  which  he  was  leaning.  There  was 
no  more  difficulty,  and  under  the  bandit's  direction, 
the  driver  unhitched  his  horse,  which  was  fresh, 
and  Tracy  exchanged  with  him.  - 

All  Olympia  was  talking  of  or  looking  for  Tracy 
that  night,  when  the  murderer  arrived  in  the  town. 

He  turned  his  horse  loose  in  the  suburbs  and 
walked  through  the  town,  stopping  at  several 
saloons  and  taking  as  many  drinks  and  went  on 
unmolested  to  the  southern  suburbs.  He  slept  in 
a  barn  that  night,  but  something  aroused  him  before 
daylight  and  he  walked  down  to  South  Bay.  On 
the  shore  of  the  bay  a  half  dozen  men  in  the  employ 
of  the  Capital  City  Oyster  company  were  at  work, 
having  just  turned  out. 

In  a  tent  two  men  were  at  work  getting  breakfast 
for  the  rest.  A  few  feet  away  a  gasoline  launch 
was  tied  to  the  wharf. 

Tracy's  coming  was  rather  unnoticed,  or  no  at- 
tention was  paid  to  him,  for  he  was  standing  beside 
the  tent,  the  sides  of  which  were  rolled  up,  when 
he  spoke  first. 

"Sorry  to  interfere  with  the  game,  boys,  but  I 
suppose  I'll  have  to  line  you  up.  I'm  Tracy." 

At  the  mention  of  the  name  the  men  threw  up 
their  hands  with  one  accord  and  he  made  them  stand 
in  line,  facing  the  tent. 

" Breakfast  ready?"  he  inquired  of  one  of  the 
cooks. 

"Not  quite,"  the  man  said. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  15l 

"Well  there's  no  use  of  starving  you  fellows,  and 
I'm  hungry  myself,  so  you'd  better  come  and  finish 
up." 

The  robber  sat  down  at  the  end  of  the  mess  table 
within  the  tent,  where  he  had  the  standing  line 
easily  under  command,  and  while  the  cook  was 
putting  the  food  on  the  table,  joked  with  Captain 
Clark,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  oyster  men.  As 
he  sat  down  to  breakfast  he  laid  his  rifle  across  his 
knees  and  said : 

"There's  no  use  of  you  fellows  being  -uncomfort- 
able. You  might  as  well  put  your  hands  down.  I 
don't  suppose  there's  a  gun  in  the  bunch?" 

He  ate  voraciously  and  when  he  had  finished  went 
outside  and  ordered  the  men  to  go  and  take  their 
breakfasts. 

"You  better  make  it  a  good  one,"  he  said.  "We're 
going  on  a  long  cruise." 

Breakfast  over,  he  to-ok  his  place  in  the  bow  of 
the  launch  and  after  ordering  Captain  Clark  to  tie 
up  two  of  the  men  and  put  them  in  the  tent,  the 
other  four,  including  Clark,  he  ordered  to  take 
seats  in  the  stern  of  the  launch,  and  added : 

"Now  Cap,  you  lay  your  course  for  Tacoma.  I'm 
going  to  drop  in  and  see  the  sheriff  there." 

The  engine  was  started  and  the  boat  got  under  way. 

Tracy's  mood  changed  frequently  during  the  day. 
He  kept  up  a  running  conversation  with  Clark  and  the 
other  men,  but  at  times  became  so  threatening  in  his 
aspect  that  the  men  were  terrified  lest  he  should  take 
it  into  his  head  to  scuttle  the  launch. 


152  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

"If  it  wasn't  too  much  trouble  to  run  this  d • 

thing,"  he  said,  "I'd  just  put  you  fellows  out  of  the 
way  to  prevent  you  talking  when  we  get  ashore." 

Captain  Clark  humored  the  man  by  his  ready  wit 
and  undoubtedly  avoided  a  wholesale  butchery.  On 
one  occasion  the  engine  got  out  of  order  and  Tracy 
apparently  forgetting  the  fact  that  he  might  be  seized 
and  overpowered  by  numbers,  good  naturedly  went  to 
work  with  the  men  and  fixed  it.  So  thoroughly  had  he 
cowed  them,  however,  that  no  attempt  was  made  to 
seize  the  pirate. 

It  was  getting  late  as  the  boat  neared  McNeil's 
island,  where  the  Washington  prison  is  located,  but  the 
guards  upon  the  frowning  walls  could  be  made  out 
easily  enough. 

"Run  in  close  to  the  island,  Cap/'  Tracy  commanded, 
"I  want  to  take  a  shot  at  one  of  those  guards." 

"What's  the  use,  Tracy,"  said  Clark,  "They've  got 
more  ammunition  than  you  have.  And  they  might 
turn  loose  with  a  rapid-fire  gun/' 

"That's  so,"  acquiesced  the  desperado,  "and  by  the 
way,  I  guess  I'll  go  on  to  Seattle." 

The  course  of  the  launch  was  changed  but  they  were 
making  too  much  headway  and  Tracy  ordered  several 
stops. 

"I  don't  want  to  get  in  before  dark,"  he  said. 

It  was  after  dark  when  they  landed  on  the  beach  a 
few  miles  north  of  the  city.  Making  the  men  step 
ashore  first,  Tracy  called  out  to  Frank  Scott,  one  of 
the  crew : 

"I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  tie  up  your  pals  here.  Sorry 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  153 

to  do  it,  Cap,"  he  added,  addressing  Clark.  "You've 
been  pretty  decent  with  me  and  I'll  try  to  square  my- 
self some  day,  but  I  don't  want  you  to  beat  me  into 
Seattle." 

He  examined  the  knots  tied  by  Scott  and  then  re- 
marked: *  „ 

"I  guess  I'll  need  you,  Frank,  come  along  with  me," 
and  he  made  the  man  go  before  him  as  far  as  the  rail- 
road track. 

"I'm  ashamed  of  myself  to  be  so  chicken-hearted," 
he  said,  "but  I'm  going  to  turn  you  loose,"  and  he  sent 
Scott  back  to  the  launch. 

Within  an  hour  the  authorities  of  Seattle  were  in- 
formed by  Captain  Clark  of  the  arrival  of  Tracy. 
Sheriff  John  Cudihee,  a  fearless  and  capable  officer, 
had  declared  that  if  Tracy  ever  landed  in  Kings  county 
in  which  Seattle  is  situated,  that  he  would  get  him. 
Cudihee  was  absent  when  the  news  arrived,  but  Deputy 
Sheriff  Jack  Williams  at  once  collected  a  number  of 
deputies  and  started  to  look  for  Tracy's  trail. 


154  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


THE  BATTLE  OF*  BOTHELL — TRACY     AGAINST  A    POSSE — 
KILLS  TWO  MEN,  WOUNDS  TWO,  AND  ESCAPES. 


In  the  party  that  started  out  with  Jack  Williams 
looking  for  Tracy's  trail  that  night,  there  were  six 
men  who  knew  how  and  were  not  afraid  to  fight  and 
two  who  were  determined  to  be  in  at  the  death — and 
they  assumed  there  would  be  a  death.  The  latter  two 
were  reporters,  Carl  Anderson  and  Louis  Seef  rit, 

Williams  himself  had  had  plenty  of  experience  as 
an  officer  in  border  fights  and  could  shoot  straight  and 
fast.  Among  his  deputies  was  Charles  Raymond,  of 
Snohomish  county,  another  man  who  had  seen  fighting 
on  the  frontier,  both  with  toughs  and  Indians.  Two 
police  officers  and  two  other  deputies  made  up  the 
posse  proper,  and  they  were  followed  by  a  number  of 
stragglers  willing  to  take  a  chance  in  getting  part  of 
the  reward  offered  for  the  killing  or  capture  of  the 
outlaw. 

They  found  the  bandit's  trail  three  miles  north  of 
Seattle  and  by  daylight  the  next  morning  knew  they 
were  somewhere  close  to  him.  Early  in  the  morning 
he  stopped  a  boy  on  the  road  and  sent  him  into  Seattle 
to  procure  ammunition  for  his  Winchester,  but  was 
obliged  to  take  to  the  timber  before  the  messenger  re- 
turned. 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  155 

Tracy  procured  breakfast  at  a  house  near  Bothell 
and  word  was  got  to  Williams'  party  that  he  was  mak- 
ing his  way  north. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  posse  emerging 
from  the  suburban  town  of  Bothell,  on  a  northern  road, 
were  surprised  by  a  shot  from  the  heart  of  a  piece  of 
waste  land  covered  with  scrub  timber  and  tall  weeds. 

With  the  exception  of  Williams,  Raymond  and 
another  man,  the  members  of  the  pursuing  party  dis- 
mounted. 

Williams  stood  up  in  his  stirrups  and  called  out : 

"You'd  better  surrender,  Tracy.  We've  got  you 
rounded  up  this  time." 

For  answer  Tracy  stood  up,  his  head  being  visible 
above  the  weeds  and  fired  at  Williams,  who  had  his 
rifle  presented  for  instant  action.  The  bullet  struck 
the  rifle  barrel  and  deflected,  hitting  Williams  in  the 
breast  and  penetrating  his  lung.  He  fell  from  his 
horse  and  died  a  few  days  later. 

The  members  of  the  posse  fired  a  volley  at  the  spot 
where  Tracy  had  been  standing,  but  the  bandit  moved 
about  with  incredible  rapidity,  his  rifle  almost  con- 
stantly in  action  and  the  reports  coming  from  widely 
divergent  spots. 

"The  fellow  shoots  like  a  company  in  skirmish/'  re- 
marked Seefrit,  one  of  the  reporters.  At  the  instant 
a  bullet  struck  him  in  the  shoulder  and  put  him  out  of 
the  engagement. 

Raymond,  who  remained  mounted,  was  firing  rapid- 
ly at  the  smoke  of  Tracy's  shots.  He  hoped  to  get  a 
sight  of  the  outlaw  and  plant  a  bullet  that  would  be 


156  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

effective.  His  temerity  cost  him  his  life,  for  Tracy, 
rising  out  of  the  shrubbery  within  a  score  of  yards  of 
the  deputy,  shot  him  through  the  head,  then  turned 
and  wounded  Anderson,  who  had  taken  a  position  in 
plain  sight  where  he  could  view  the  combat. 

The  number  of  casualties,  the  unerring  accuracy  of 
the  bandit's  aim,  had  a  shilling  effect  upon  the  attack- 
ing party  and  the  members  drew  off  to  take  care  of 
their  wounded. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  lull,  the  outlaw,  at  whom 
more  than  1,00  shots  had  been  fired  in  vain,  crept  off 
through  the  weeds  and  escaped  unscathed. 

When  the  report  of  the  battle  and  its  results  reached 
Tacoma,  Sheriff  Cudihee  made  up  his  mind  that  Tracy 
should  not  be  allowed  to  get  away  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Seattle. 

He  wired  the  facts  briefly  to  Governor  McBride,  who 
promptly  placed  the  state  militia  at  the  disposal  of  the 
sheriff  and  offered  a  reward  of  $5,000  for  the  capture 
of  Tracy,  dead  or  alive. 

Cudihee  was  more  nearly  a  match  for  Tracy  than  any 
of  the  numerous  men  who  had  started  to  effect  his 
capture  or  kill  the  outlaw.  Cunning  in  the  wiles  of 
frontier  warfare,  fearless  to  a  degree,  a  dead  shot  and 
capable  of  dealing  with  the  desperado  on  his  own 
terms  and  on  his  own  ground,  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  Seattle  sheriff  would  give  a  good  account  of 
himself. 

Taking  two  men  with  him  he  found  Tracy's  trail  and 
followed  it  in  the  direction  of  Freemont.  Here  he 
met  with  awkward  interference  on  the  part  of  the 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  157 

local  police,  who  insisted  on  attaching  themselves  to 
his  posse.  Policemen  Breez  and  Rawley  joined  the 
sheriff  in  spite  of  his  protests. 

"We  know  the  fellow  and  we'll  get  him.  He's  at 
Van  Horn's  house,"  Breez  said. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  outlaw  had  taken  possession 
of  a  house  belonging  to  a  Mrs.  Van  Horn,  standing  in 
the  midst  of  an  isolated  farm.  Surrounding  a  clear- 
ing in  which  the  house  was  located  was  a  belt  of 
dense  timber.  Mrs.  Van  Horn  was  alone  in  the  house 
when  Tracy  arrived,  and  terrified  by  the  threats  of 
the  bandit  had  provided  him  with  food  and  he  was 
still  there  when  Cudihee  arrived. 

The  sheriff  was  driving  in  a  buggy  and  behind  him, 
on  foot,  came  policemen  Breez  and  Rawley. 

"You  f ellows'll  get  your  heads  blowed  off  if  he  gets 
a  shot  at  you.  You'd  better  let  me  deal  with  him," 
said  Sheriff  Cudihee. 

The  men  said  they  would,  and  hid  themselves  near 
the  edge  of  the  timber.  Cudihee  drove  about  a  hun- 
dred yards  past  the  house,  until  his  vehicle  was  hid- 
den by  the  timber,  then  got  down  and  crept  back. 

He  had  supposed  that  Tracy  was  alone  with  Mrs. 
Van  Horn  in  the  house,  but,  fortune  favoring  the 
outlaw,  as  usual,  two  farm  hands  had  arrived  a  few 
minutes  before  the  coming  of  the  posse. 

Tracy  was  not  blind  to  what  was  going  on  and 
did  not  want  to  be  trapped  in  the  building. 

Cudihee  lay  concealed  one  hundred  yards  or  so 
from  the  front  door  of  the  house  when  Tracy  came 


158  TRACY,  THE   BANDIT. 

out  with  a  man  on  each  side  of  him.  The  outlaw 
carried  his  rifle  ready  for  action. 

Cudihee  maneuvered  to  get  the  drop  on  Tracy 
before  showing  himself  and  was  already  in  position 
to  get  his  man  when  Rawley  and  Breez  dashed  out 
of  the  timber  and  shouted  in  unison: 

"Throw  up  your  hands,  Tracy." 

Before  the  sound  had  died  away  both  men  were 
stretched  on  the  ground  with  bullets  in  their  brains. 

With  that  frightful  certainty  of  aim  that  was  one 
of  his  most  distinguished  characteristics,  Tracy  had 
killed  both  of  them  in  the  same  instant. 

His  movements  had  disconcerted  the  aim  of  the 
sheriff  and  Tracy,  dodging  about  and  keeping  the 
farm  hands  close  beside  him,  made  it  impossible  for 
Cudihee  to  get  a  fair  shot  at  him  before  he  reached 
the  timber.  The  men  who  had  been  shielding  Tracy 
at  last  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  in  response 
to  the  command  of  Cudihee  and  a  volley  of  shots 
followed  Tracy  into  the  thick  covert  of  timber. 

In  the  uproar  following  the  death  of  the  two  men 
and  the  miscellaneous  fire  Tracy  again  made  good 
his  escape,  v 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  1J9 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


A  STRENUOUS  FOURTH  OF  JULY — TRACY  AGAIN  BREAKS 

THROUGH  A  CORDON  OF  MILITIA — HOLDS  UP 

THE  JOHNSON  FAMILY. 


The  celebration  of  Independence  Day  in  Washing- 
ton did  not  lack  for  excitement,  though  some  hun- 
dred of  citizens  were  deprived  of  the  ordinary  pleas- 
ures of  the  day  by  reason  of  the  disturbed  state  of 
public  feeling,  caused  by  the  pursuit  of  Tracy. 

One  hundred  members  of  the  National  Guard 
were  taken  into  the  field  to  effect  the  capture  of 
the  desperado.  His  movements  were  so  rapid  and 
uncertain  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  follow 
them,  but  the  troops,  stationed  across  a  stretch  of 
country,  into  which  Tracy  was  being  driven  by 
Sheriff  Cudihee  and  his  men,  formed  what  was 
thought  to  be  an  impassable  barrier  to  the  bandit's 
progress. 

Cudihee's  hunt  had  become  systematic.  Deploy- 
ing men  on  each  side  for  considerable  distance,  he 
put  a  pack  of  bloo'd  hounds  on  Tracy's  trail. 

The  trail  was  picked  up  fresh  on  the  morning  of 
the  Fourth  at  a  farmhouse  where  the  outlaw  had 
stopped  and  commanded  breakfast. 

At  that  time  the  pursuers  were  not  more  than  an 


160  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

hour  behind  Tracy  and  the  hounds  took  readily 
enough  to  the  scent. 

The  country  was  wooded  and  dry,  and,  although 
the  quarry  could  plainly  hear  the  dogs,  he  found 
no  opportunity  to  destroy  the  scent  by  taking  to 
swamp  or  stream. 

He  moved  rapidly  and  was  not  caught  sight  of 
although  the  hounds  were  keen  on  the  trail,  until 
eleven  o'clock,  when  they  suddenly  gave  tip  the 
scent  and  refused  ta  work. 

His  devilish  cunning  had  led  the  fugitive  to  the 
one  means  of  safety.  He  passed  close  to  a  farm- 
house in  the  doorway  of  which  a  woman  was  stand- 
ing. 

Dashing  up  to  the  door  he  thrust  the  frightened 
woman  aside,  went  into  the  kitchen  and  said : 

"Have  you  any  pepper?" 

The  woman  pointed  to  a  shelf  on  the  wall  and 
Tracy  seized  upon  a  can  oi  red  pepper.  Running 
to  the  roadway,  which  was  dry  and  hard,  he  walked 
rapidly  along,  scattering  the  pepper  in  his  tracks 
at  intervals.  Then,  taking  to  the  timber,  he  worked 
his  way  to  the  west  and  stopping  a  straggling  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  posse,  disarmed  and  dismounted 
the  man  and  took  his  horse. 

Towards  evening  he  caught  .sight  of  the  uniforms 
of  the  militiamen  who  barred  his  path.  Guessing 
that  his  escape  would  be  cut  off  to  the  right  or 
left,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  essay  one  of  those 
dramatic  climaxes  which  he  was  fond  of  indulging 
in,  and  break  through  the  military  line.  He  no 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  161 

longer  heard  the  dogs,  who  had  left  the  trail  when 
they  found  it  hot  with  pepper;  and  he  concealed 
himself  to  wait  for  darkness. 

Leading  his  horse  in  the  dark,  he  made  his  way 
cautiously  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  line  of 
guards.  Then  making  a  tremendous  row  by  shout- 
ing and  shooting  he  frightened  the  horse  into  a  mad 
run  in  the  direction  of  the  soldiers. 

They,  alert  and  anticipating  a  dash  from  the  robr 
ber,  riddled  the  horse  with  bullets,  many  of  them 
running  to  the  scene  of  the  disturbance  and  leav- 
ing a  break  in  the  line  through  which  Tracy  easily 
made  his  way  without  opposition. 

Reaching  the  shore  he  was  looking  about  for  a 
boat  wheft  another  Japanese  fisherman  had  the 
misfortune  to  meet  him.  Tracy  promptly  held  him 
up  and  compelled  him  to  get  a  boat  and  row  him 
across  the  Sound  to  Port  Madison. 

John  Johnson  and  his  family,  including*  a  hired 
man  named  John  Anderson,  were  at  breakfast  the 
next  morning  when  a  mud-covered  figure  appeared 
at  the  door  and,  thrusting  a  rifle  into  the  room, 
commanded  the  family,  roughly,  to  leave  the  table. 

Directing  Anderson  to  take  a  cord  and  tie  John- 
son's hands,  the  intruder  then  ordered  the  woman 
and  children  out  of  doors  and  seated  himself  at  the 
table. 

Tracy,  for  it  was  he,  spent  the  entire  day  at  the 
Johnson  house,  resting  and  planning  his  further 
progress.  He  compelled  Anderson  to  bring  out  all 
of  Johnson's  clothing  and  his  own  and  selected  a 


162  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

fresh  supply  for  himself.     Incidentally  he  bathed, 
and  shaved  himself,  and  stole  four  watches. 

Tracy  was  in  good  humor  when  he  left  Johnson's 
house  that  night.    He  had  studied  the  situation  and 
felt  that  his  hope  of  escape  lay  in  reaching  the 
mainland  and  getting  to  the  interior  as   fast  as- 
possible. 

"Anderson,"  he  said,  "how'd  you  like  to  hire  out 
tome?" 

Anderson,  who  was  a  big  Swede  and  who  lived  in 
such  a  remote  district  that  the  fame  of  Tracy  had 
not  reached  it,  not  knowing  his  visitor,  said : 

"Ay  tank  ay  got  pooty  good  yob  here,"  and  grin-  \ 
ned. 

"Well,  I  think  you'll  get  another  yob,"  said  Tracy. 
"Come  along  with  me." 

Anderson  protested  and  Tracy  hit  him  brutally ; 
over  the  head  with  the  barrel  of  his  rifle.     That; 
was  all  the  conquering  Anderson  needed.    He  found 
a  boat  and  rowed  Tracy  over  to  the  mainland,  in  i 
the  direction  of  Seattle. 

The  waters  about  Seattle  were  full  of  tugs  and 
steamers  carrying  scores  of  deputies  and  volunteers,  •; 
looking  for  traces  of  the  bandit.     Even  a  United  j 
States  revenue  cutter  had  been  pressed  into  service 
and  the  water  front  was  alive  with  men,  engaged  in  : 
that  most  exciting  of  pursuits — a  man  hunt. 

On  reaching  the  shore  near  Seattle,  Tracy  made 
his  way  to  the  timber,  keeping  Anderson  with  him, 
though  for  what  purpose  is  not  known. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  163 

That  night  he  tied  the  unfortunate  Swede  in  an 
upright  position  to  a  tree. 

It  was  uncomfortable  for  Anderson  but  Tracy 
slept. 

In  the  morning  Tracy  released  Anderson,  hid  his 
rifle  and  started  on  a  detour  that  would  carry  him 
around  Seattle.  For  three  days  he  kept  ^Anderson 
with  him,  the  two  being  frequently  seen.  Wearing 
as  he  did,  the  clothes  he  had  taken  from  Johnson's 
house,  his  face  recently  shaved,  there  was  nothing 
in  Tracy's  appearance  to  suggest  the  bedraggled 
and  desperate  looking  outlaw  he  was  when  last 
seen  by  his  pursuers  on  the  mainland.  Scores  of 
people  saw  the  two  men  and  they  stopped  at  many 
houses  where  Tracy  paid  for  food. 


164  TRACY,  THE   BANDIT. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A  WANTON  SHOT — THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  JERROLDS. 


Tracy  was  first  recognized  by  those  who  were 
seeking  for  his  life  in  the  neighborhood  of  Renton, 
south  of  Seattle. 

He  held  up  a  man  in  the  outskirts  of  Renton  and 
got  into  conversation  with  him.  The  man  had  no 
money  but  Tracy  took  a  Seattle  paper  from  him  and 
read  there  that  he  was  being  hunted  by  some  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  the  sheriffs  of  Kitsap,  Kings, 
Pierce,  Snohomish  and  Jefferson  counties. 

He  found  that  he  had  unwittingly  passed  through 
posses  which  lined  every  road,  and  the  members  of 
which  believed  that  the  entire  country  was  so  pro- 
tected that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  re- 
turn to  the  mainland  without  being  captured. 

He  read  that  the  revenue  cutter,  Grant,  and  the 
government  launch,  Scout,  had  been  loaded  with 
men  picked  for  service  in  the  woo-ds  and  expected  to 
land  them  for  work  in  the  wilds  of  Kitsaj)  county. 

'That  helps  some/'  Tracy  remarked.  "I  don't 
think  I  have  any  immediate  business  in  Kitsap 
county.  I  can  see  where  I  need  a  gun.  Have  you 
got  a  gun?"  he  asked  the  man.  The  man  stupidly 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  165 

said  that  a  neighbor  of  his  who  lived  a  few.  hundred 
yards  up  the  road  had  a  rifle. 

"Show  me  the  place,"  said  Tracy.  Forcing  An- 
derson to  go  with  him  he  made  the  Rentonite  to 
knock  at  the  door  and  when  it  was  opened  led  his 
captives  in.  The  rifle  he  wanted  was  hanging  on 
the  wall  and  there  was  a  pile  of  cartridges  on  a 
shelf.  Without  waiting  to  draw  a  weapon  Tracy 
walked  to  the  wall  and  took  down  the  rifle  and 
helped  himself  to  the  cartridges. 

The  owner  of  the  house  attempted  to  interfere 
and  was  knocked  down.  Tracy  led  Anderson  out  in- 
to the  darkness  and  disappeared. 

Tracy  told  Anderson  he  was  looking  for  trouble. 
The  farm  hand  plead  with  him  for  his  liberty  and 
the  bandid  told  Him  he  would  show  him  something 
of  life.  They  were  walking  along  by  the  side  of 
the  railroad  track  in  the  early  morning  when  a  man 
appeared  walking  along  the  track  carrying  a  rifle. 
^Tracy  at  once  stepped  out  on  the  track  and  met  the 
man  face  to  face. 

"Heard  anything  of  Tracy !"  asked  the  stranger. 

"Not  a  line,"  said  Tracy.    "Whose  outfit  do  you 
belong  to?" 
.  "Cudihee's." 

"Well,  good  luck."  The  amateur  thief  hunter 
went  on  down  the  track.  He  had  gone  about  a 
hundred  yards  when  it  occurred  to  Tracy  that  he 
ought  to  have  a  shot  at  him.  He  drew  a  revolver 
and  fired  one  shot.  It  missed  the  deputy  and  he 


166  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

looked  around.  Tracy  was  aiming  to  fire  another 
shot  and  the  deputy  fled  to  the  woods. 

Just  before  noon  Tracy  and  Anderson  saw  tww 
women  picking  berries  in  the  woods.  Tracy  ad- 
dressed the  women  pleasantly  and  asked  them  if 
they  lived  in  the  neighborhood.  The  younger  one, 
Miss  May  Baker,  of  Seattle,  answered: 

"I  don't  know  that  it's  any  of  your  business 
where  we  live." 

Her  companion  was  Mrs.  McKinney,  also  of  Seat- 
tle. 

"Now  I  hope  you  ladies  are  going  to  be  pleasant," 
said  Tracy;  "because  I'm  going  to  ask  you  to  lead  us 
to  the  nearest  house." 

There  was  something  menacing  in  his  tone  and 
the  women,  followed  by  Anderson,  Tracy  bringing 
up  the  rear,  made  their  way  to  a  house  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  Renton,  owned  by  Charles  Jerrold, 
a  contractor. 

The  only  person  in  the  house  was  Thomas  Jerrold, 
a  17-year-old  boy  and  his  mother.  Driving  his 
prisoners  ahead  of  him,  Tracy  entered  the  kitchen 
of  the  house  and  told  Mrs.  Jerrold  he  had  brought 
her  some  visitors  and  they  would  want  something 
to  eat.  He  produced  a  strap  with  which  he  tied 
Anderson's  hands  and  seated  him  in  a  corner.  The 
women  huddled  together  at  one  side  of  the  room  and 
Tracy,  after  looking  out  of  the  door  which  com- 
manded a  view  of  the  railroad  tracks,  called  the  boy 
outside  and  producing  two  watches,  one  gold  and 
the  other  silver,  which  he  had  taken  from  the  farm- 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT.  167 

er  Johnson  at  Port  Madison,  said  to  young  Jerrold : 
"Now,  my  name  is  Tracy.  I  want  you  to  do  an 
errand  for  me.  You  take  these  two  watches,  go  into 
Seattle  and  pawn  them.  Buy  two  Cold  revolvers, 
six-inch  barrels,  and*  100  cartridges.  I'll  write  it 
down.  If  you  ain't  back  here  by  dark  Fm  going  to 
cut  your  mother's  throat." 

He  started  the  frightened  boy  off.  Young  Jerrold 
went  into  Renton  and  told  a  deputy,  whom  he  met, 
that  Tracy  was  at  his  house.  The  news  was  tele- 
phoned to  Seattle  and  Cudihee's  men  were  directed 
to  surround  the  place. 


168  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


SAVED  AGAIN   RY  A  WOMAN— A   POSSE   FOILED 


Tracy  spent  the  afternoon  with  the  three  women 
and  evidently  sought  to  make  an  impression  on  Miss 
Baker,  a  very  self-possessed  young  woman.  He  in- 
sisted that  the  ladies  eat  lunch  with  hi$i,  and  sat 
where  he  could  command  a  view  of  the  railroad 
track.  He  was  sitting  there  unmoved  when  a  special 
train  containing  a  crowd  of  deputies  passed  along 
the  track. 

"There  goes  a  bunch  looking  for  me,"  he  said, 
smilingly.  "I  know  they're  deputies,  because  I 
recognized  a  red  haired  reporter  with  them." 

"Then  don't  you  think  you'd  better  go?"  said  Miss 
Baker. 

"Oh,  I  know  they  wouldn't  be  impolite  enough  to 
disturb  me  when  I'm  in  such  good  company,"  said 
Tracy. 

By  way  of  making  conversation  Miss  Baker  asked 
him  why  he  wore  a  moustache. 

"Why  do  you  ask,"  he  inquired. 

"Because  I  don't  like  a  man  with  a  moustache," 
she  answered. 

"Then  I'll  have  to  get  a  razor,"  he  rejoined. 

"Have  you  had  your  picture  taken  lately?"  a$ked 
the  girl. 


TRACY,   THE  BANDIT,  169 

"Well,  not  for  about  three  years,"  he  answered. 
"But  that's  because  I'm  modest.  I've  had  lots  of 
chances  to  have  it  taken,  for  every  time  I  meet  up 
with  a  bunch  of  deputies  there  is  always  a  reporter 
ahead  of  the  troop  carrying  a  camera  and  trying  to 
get  a  snap-shot.  I  seem  to  be  popular." 

Tracy  made  himself  agreeable  at  the  table  and  re- 
marked as  the  meal  was  finished: 

"You  know  I  like  this.    It  seems  just  like  home." 

"You  spoiled  our  berry-picking,"  complained  Miss 
Baker. 

"Well,  we'll  all  go  berry-picking  in  a  minute," 
said  Tracy. 

"But  we'll  be  late  in  getting  home,"  objected 
Miss  Baker. 

Tracy  promised  to  steal  the  best  buggy  in  the 
neighborhood  and  drive  her  home. 

"I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Miss  Baker.  "I 
hardly  think  we'd  enjoy  the  drive  with  deputies 
shooting  at  us." 

"But  surely  they  wouldn't  be  impolite  enough  to 
shoot  at  me  when  I  was  in  the  company  of  ladies. 
Besides  you  wouldn't  mind  a  little  thing  like  that, 
would  you  ?" 

"O  no,  we'd  like  to  get  killed  for  you — I  don't 
think,"  said  the  girl. 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on  the  swarm 
of  deputies  coming  up  the  track  had  entirely  sur- 
rounded the  house.  Every  avenue  of  escape  seemed 
to  be  closed  to  the  outlaw,  but  he  sat  much  more 


170  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

unconcerned  .than  the  women  in  whose  company  he 
was. 

A  deputy  coming  from  the  timber  walked  toward 
the  open  door  of  the  house.  Tracy  saw  him  coming 
and  stepped  into  another  room  from  which  he  could 
command  a  view  of  the  front  room  without  being 
seen.  He  took  Anderson  with  him. 

"Tell  him  there's  nobody  here,"  he  said  to  Miss 
Baker. 

He  stood  rifle  in  hand  where  he  could  see  her  and 
aimed  the  gun  deliberately  at  her.  The  girl  did 
not  falter  and  as  the  man  reached  the  door  and 
asked : 

"Is  Tracy  here?"  she  replied: 

"Why  should  he  be  here?" 

The  deputy  turned  away  without  making  further 
inquiry.  Tracy  soon  after  left  the  house  by  the  rear 
and  went  unnoticed  down  the  river,  having  warned 
the  women  in  the  meantime  to  make  no  disturbance 
— that  he  would  be  back.  The  woods  were  full  of 
men  but  he  was  not  observed  and  returned  in  a  few 
minutes.  He  had  some  straps  with  him  when  he 
came  back,  and,  leading  Anderson  out  of  the  house, 
he  took  him  to  a  chickencoop  and  fastened  him  to  a 
post. 

He  returned  again  to  the  house,  bared  his  head, 
and  said: 

"Goodbye,  -ladies;  I  thank  you.  It  was  just  like 
home." 

He  walked,   crouching,  down  to   the  river  and 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  171 

turned  into  a  field  beside  the  house  filled  with  reeds 
and  shrubs. 

When  he  reached  the  middle  of  the  field  he  stood 
up  and  could  be  plainly  seen. 

The  eyes  of  100  deputies  saw  the  man  stand  up 
but  they  all  thought  him  a  member  of  the  posse. 
Crouching  again  he  made  his  way  to  the  river  bank 
and  crept  silently  through  the  underbrush.  A 
couple  of  reporters  standing  on  the  railroad  track, 
saw  him  and  made  the  comment: 

"There  goes  one  of  those  fool  deputies.  Tracy'll 
get  him." 

The  quiet  of  the  summer  evening  was  broken  by 
the  baying  of  the  bloodhounds,  which  had  been 
brought  up  to  put  on  Tracy's  trail,  as  he  emerged 
from  the  brush  along  side  of  deputy  sheriff  who  held 
a  saddled  horse. 

Before  the  man  was  aware  of  his  presence,  Tracy 
brought  the  barrel  of  his  rifle  crashing  down  on  the 
unfortunate  man's  skull.  Then  he  mounted  the 
horse  and  dashed  away. 


172  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT, 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


THE   WOODS   FULL  OF  DEPUTIES. 


That  Harry  Tracy  escaped  death  or  capture  that 
night  is  the  greatest  tribute  to  his  cunning  and 
knowledge  of  men  and  woodcraft.  The  woods  were 
fairly  full  of  men,  every  one  armed  and  all  inspired 
by  the  desire  for  revenge  or  gain,  bent  upon  taking 
the  life  of  the  desperado. 

Sheriff  Cudihee  and  the  sheriffs  operating  with 
him  had  sent  not  less  than  two  hundred  deputies  to 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Jerrold  house.  They  had 
almost  completely  encircled  the  place  and  under 
the  direction  of  Deputy  Sheriff  McLellan  every  pos- 
sible emergency,  it  was  thought,  had  been  provided 
for.  Still  he  got  away. 

But  he  had  not  got  off  entirely  free. 

Attracted  by  the  report  that  the  bandit  was  sur- 
rounded, men  were  flocking  to  the  place  from  all 
direction.  Tracy  rode  toward  Cedar  Mountain  and 
was  seen  by  a  telegraph  operator  who  sent  word  to 
the  sheriffs. 

Within  a  half  mile  of  Cedar  Mountain,  he  came 
unexpectedly  on  a  posse.  They  fired  at  him  and 
shot  the  horse  from  under  the  desperado. 

Tracy  dropped  behind  the  horse  and  poured  such 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  173 

a  terrible  fire  into  the  group  that  the  men  fairly 
melted  away,  two  of  their  number  being  wounded. 

Again  he  slipped  away  into  the  forbidding  dark- 
ness of  the  forest,  which  offered  the  only  possible 
avenue  of  safety  to  him. 

The  bloodhounds  were  brought  up  and  put  upon 
the  trail  again.  Following  the  hounds  was  a  pack 
of  men  numbering  nearly  two  hundred  all  of  whom 
were  even  more  intent  upon  his  blood  than  the  dogs 
were.  Tracy  told  many  people  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact  afterwards  that  the  only  fear  he  ever  felt 
was  when  he  heard  the  baying  of  the  hounds.  It 
made  him  shudder,  he  said. 


174  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


A   DASH    FOR    THE    WILDERNESS. 


He  doubled  about  on  his  track  and  on  one  oc- 
casion was  so  close  to  the  dogs  that  he  only  escaped 
by  jumping  a  chasm,  putting  the  brutes  at  fault, 
though  the  man  himself  was  almost  in  sight  of 
his  pursuers  and  could  plainly  hear  their  voices. 

Clambering  over  rocks  he  saw  a  light  in  the  house, 
of  a  farmer  named  Feek.  His  evident  intention  was 
to  reach  the  house  and  get  a  horse  and  even  this 
desperate  intention  led  him  to  one  of  those  strange 
freaks  of  fortune  which  he  was  always  so  quick  to 
take  advantage  of. 

As  he  approached  the  house  Feek  saw  him  and 
shot  at  him  at  short  range.  Tracy  returned  the 
fire,  but  did  no  damage.  Believing  it  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  get  a  horse  from  a  house  that  was  guarded 
he  turned  off  down  a  declivity  and  found  himself  on 
the  edge  of  a  swamp. 

With  a  sense  of  relief  he  plunged  into  the  sedgy 
morass  and  presently  arrived  at  a  comparatively 
open  body  of  water  through  which  he  waded.  It 
was  only  by  the  most  desperate  effort  that  he  freed 
himself  from  the  clinging  mud  at  the  bottom  of 
the  swamp,  but  when  he  again  reached  firm  ground 


TRACY,   THE   BANDIT.  175 

his  trail  was  completely  last  to  the  dogs  and  he  had 
a  fair  start  away  from  his  pursuers. 

Finding  a  horse  in  the  pasture  he  improvised  a 
bridle  by  tying  a  bit  of  string  about  the  animal's 
jaw  and  was  off  to  the  east. 

He  had  defeated  Cudihee's  army  as  completely  as 
though  he  had  routed  the  sheriff  by  force  of  num- 
bers. 

But  the  escape  inspired  Tracy  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  certainty  of  death  or  capture  if  he  remained  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  coast  cities. 

Again  he  disappeared  and  was  not  heard  of  for 
two  days.  During  that  time  he  saw  no  living  being, 
or  at  least,  was  not  seen  to  be  recognized.  He  suf- 
fered hunger  and  deprivation,  even  compelled  him- 
self to  forego  the  ferocious  pleasure  of  pitting  him- 
self against  his  fellow  man,  in  the  hope  of  getting 
into  a  less  populous  district. 

It  was  near  Kent  that  he  felt  impelled  to  secure 
food  and  additional  arms.  He  had  lost  his  rifle  in 
the  flight  from  Renton  and  had  but  one  revolver. 

He  appeared  in  the  doorway  of  the  house  of  E. 
M.  Johnson,  near  Kent  about  noon.  He  presented  a 
frightful  appearance.  He  had  on  a  slouch  hat,  cor- 
duroy coat,  canvas  trousers  and  boots  and  was  in- 
crusted  in  mud  from  head  to  foot.  The  natural 
ferocity  of  his  countenance  shone  out  of  the  grime 
on  his  face.  In  his  right  hand  he  held  a  revolver. 

Johnson  and  his  family  were  at  dinner. 

"Get  away  from  that  table  and  let  me  eat,"  com- 
manded Tracy. 


176  TRACY,   THE  BANDIT. 

The  people  terrified  at  the  frightful  apparition 
in  the  door,  obeyed,  and  stepping  to  the  table,  Tracy 
greedily  devoured  what  food  there  was  in  sight,  John- 
son, his  wife  and  their  three  children  looking  on  and 
anticipating  the  worst. 

When  he  had  appeased  in  some  measure  the  pangs 
of  hunger  Tracy  looked  at  Johnson  and  said  in  a  hard 
tone: 

"I  suppose  you  know  me.  I'm  Tracy.  I'll  tell  you 
what  I  want  you  to  do.  You  go  into  Tacoma  and  buy 
me  a  45  Colt's  revolver  and  two  hundred  cartridges. 
You  ought  to  be  back  here  in  six  hours.  If  you  are 
not  back,  or  if  I  see  any  sign  that  you  have  betrayed 
me  I  will  cut  the  throats  of  that  woman  and  those  kids 
and  set  fire  to  the  house  before  I  leave.  And  remem- 
ber that  I  keep  my  word.  Now  go." 

In  terrified  haste  Johnson  saddled  a  horse  and 
went  away  protesting  that  he  would  obey  the  out- 
law to  the  letter.  Tracy  locked  the  doors  of  the 
house,  called  for  water,  washed  and  shaved  himself, 
put  on  Johnson's  best  clothes  and  awaited  the  man's 
return,  keeping  the  trembling  woman  and  the  chil- 
dren in  the  room  with  him  all  the  time.  Johnson 
returned  within  the  prescribed  time  with  the  re- 
volver and  so  impressed  was  he  by  the  threats  of  the 
bandits  that  he  said  nothing  of  the  occurrence  until 
the  next  day. 

Again  Tracy  disappeared  and  a  few  days  later 
was  seen  near  Covington.  He  was  surrounded  by  a 
posse  and  instead  of  remaining  in  the  woods  and 


*  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  177 

fighting  he  baldly  took  to  the  railroad  tracks,  as- 
suming that  the  deputies  would  not  recognize  him 
because  of  his  changed  appearance. 

He  was  right,  for  although  halted  by  Deputies  J. 
A.  and  F.  C.  Bunce  who  inquired  who  he  was,  he 
replied:  "I'm  Anderson,"  and  walked  carelessly 
past.  It  dawned  upon  the  Bunce  brothers  after  he 
had  gone  that  they  had  let  Tracy  slip  through  their 
hands.  They  fired  at  him  with  shotguns  and 
wounded  him  in  the  back.  A  few  minutes  later  he 
met  another  deputy  named  Crowe,  who  was  in  hid- 
ing alongside  the  railroad  embankment. 

"Who  goes  there,"  called  Crowe,  throwing  his 
rifle  to  his  shoulder. 

"A  deputy,"  replied  Tracy. 

Crowe  lowered  his  rifle  and  walked  toward  the 
man,  when  Tracy  drew  a  revolver  and  fired  at  him 
three  times.  It  was  the  new  weapon  and  his  aim  was 
disconcerted.  Crowe  was  so  close  that  the  power 
blinded  him  and  he  fell.  Tracy  went  on  and  dis- 
appeared. 

A  few  miles  further  east  he  boarded  a  railroad 
train  and  rode  for  nearly  a  hundred  miles  without 
being  recognized. 

In  the  meantime  the  country  behind  him  was 
teeming  with  men  hunting  for  him.  Farmers  left 
their  homes,  taking  with  them  covered  wagons  and 
camp  equipage.  They  had  made  a  business  of  hunt- 
ing Tracy.  In  many  sections  farm  work  was  en- 
tirely suspended  while  the  hunt  went  on. 

For  weeks  this  remarkable  state  of  affairs  con- 


178 


TRACY,    THE  BANDIT. 


tmued,  the  whole  people  engaged  in  the  hunting 
down  of  one  man  who  by  his  infernal  ingenuity 
and  ferocious  qualities  had  terrorized  a  state. 

Tracy  was  in  comparative  security  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  state  before  it  was  known  that  he 
had  got  away  from  the  coast  country. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  179 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AN   AMATEUR  SURGEON — TRACY   RIDES   A   BIKE. 


Tracy  was  tired  of  the  struggle.  The  lust  for 
blood  and  the  joy  of  the  strife  departed  from  him  when 
he  felt  the  hiss  of  the  hot  shot  in  his  flesh  as  he  left 
the  Bunce  brothers. 

He  had  made  up  his  mind  to  reach  the  "Hole-in-the- 
Wall"  country  where  he  had  assurance  of  meeting  with 
kindred  spirits  and  acquaintances  among  the  desperate 
band  of  that  desplate  region. 

Observing  that  he  was  attracting  attention  on  the 
train,  and  fearing  recognition  he  left  it  at  a  water  tank 
and  made  off  to  the  woods  in  a  southeasterly  direction. 
He'  was  lost  in  the  recesses  of  the  forest  for  a  couple 
of  days  but  the  pain  from  his  wound  and  the  danger 
that  he  apprehended  from  blood  poisoning,  compelled 
him  to  seek  human  aid. 

He  found  a  lonely  woodman  and  told  him  that  he  had 
been  injured  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a  shot  gun. 
Removing  his  clothes,  he  gave  the  man — James  Sum- 
mers— a  knife  and  asked  him  to  cut  the  shot  out  of  his 
back.  Summers  went  after  the  job  timidly,  and  Tracy 
cried  out : 

"Go  on  man,  cut  deep.    You  won't  hurt  me." 

He  remained  with  Summers  for  three  days,  but  his 


180  TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 

natural  bravado  got  the  better  of  his  discretion  and  he 
could  not  refrain  from  telling  his  host  who  he  was. 
The  confidence  proved  fatal,  for  a  few  hours  after 
he  left  Summers*  shanty  that  section  of  the  statS 
was  aroused  and  up  in  arms. 

Not  knowing  that  the  pursuit  was  organized,  again 
Tracy  made  his  way  slowly  across  the  country,  re- 
fraining from  acts  of  violence.  When  he  asked  for 
food  he  was  willing  to  pay  for  it  and  cheerfully  helped 
his  hosts  at  their  work.  A  number  of  men,  members 
of  the  posse,  met  him  a  few  miles  from  Ellensburg 
and  fired  at  him. 

He  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  back  of  the  head, 
but  for  some  reason  did  not  make  a  fight.  He  dis- 
appeared into  the  woods. 

Outside  of  Ellensburg  he  met  a  young  fellow  on  a 
bicycle  and  stopped  him.  Probably  in  a  spirit  of 
deviltry  the  bandit  took  the  bike,  saying  that  he  wanted 
to  see  if  he  could  still  ride.  The  bicyclist,  suspecting 
who  the  man  was,  was  afraid  to  make  a  protest  and 
Tracy  rode  through  Elllensburg,  stopping  to  buy  am- 
munition and  get  a  drink. 

He  was  heard  of  from  time  to  time,  always  alone, 
generally  good  natured,  sometimes  menacing,  but  he 
slew  no  more  men. 

Early  in  August  he  appeared  at  Govan,  Washington, 
and  was  recognized.  The  residents,  inspired  by  the 
hope  of  reward,  organized  a  posse  and  pursued  the 
outlaw,  who  made  off  toward  Conowai  Creek.  He 
had  little  difficulty  in  eluding  his  pursuers  and  from 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT. 


181 


the  remarks  he  made  to  settlers  at  whose  houses  he 
stopped  he  appeared  to  be  rather  amused  at  the  idea 
that  farmers  could  take  him. 

Yet  the  irony  of  fate  brought  about  his  end  through 
just  such  means  as  this  at  which  he  laughed. 


182  TRACY,   THE   BANglT. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

AT   THE    EDDY    FARM — THE   LAST   STAND — THE    BITTER- 
NESS  OF   DEATH — THE   OUTLAW^   END. 


The  little  town  of  Creston,  Washington,  was 
thrown  into  a  furore  on  the  morning  of  August  4, 
when  it  was  stated  that  Tracy  had  been  seen  and 
recognized  in  the  suburbs.  A  meeting  of  the  citizens 
was  called  at  once  and  a  posse  organized  which  in- 
cluded nearly  every  able-bodied  man  in  the  town  or 
neighborhood. 

Tracy  was  not  aware  of  the  organization  of  this 
posse,  or  perhaps  was  careless  of  consequences,  be- 
lieving that  he  could  elude  the  pursuers  at  any  time. 

On  the  morning  of  August  5  he  walked  up  to  the 
house  of  J.  M.  Eddy,  a  few  miles  from  Creston,  and 
asked  for  something  to  eat. 

"I'm  willing  to  pay  for  it/'  he  said,  smilingly. 

Eddy's  young  son  was  with  him  and,  though  he  sus- 
pected who  his  visitor  was  he  said  nothing,  until  break- 
fast was  over,  when  Tracy  announced  himself. 

"This  place  looks  pretty  good  to  me,"  he  said,  "I'd 
like  to  stop  here." 

His  words  were  prophetic. 

Eddy  told  him  he  had  no  employment  for  him  and 
Tracy  replied: 

"That's  all  right.    I  just  want  to  help." 


TRACY,  THE   BANDIT.  183 

And  he  did.  All  that  day  he  worked  about  the  barn, 
but  kept  Eddy  and  his  son  close  to  him  without  appear- 
ing to  compel  them.  Tracy  was  coming  out  of  the 
stable  late  in  the  afternoon  when  he  saw  a  man  peer- 
ing out  of  the  underbrush  beside  a  field.  He  stepped 
back  into  the  stable  and  watched  intently,  calling  the 
farmer  and  his  son  into  the  place.  He  made  out  an- 
other figure  in  hiding,  then  another. 

"They're  after  me,"  he  said  grimly,  "and  I  think 
it's  up  to  me  to  move." 

He  stepped  outside  and  a  shot  rang  out.  Crouch- 
ing he  ran  rapidly  into  a  field  of  growing  grain. 

Even  as  he  ran  a  number  of  men  stood  up  and  fired 
at  him. 

Who  it  was  that  fired  the  shot  which  brought  him 
down,  will  never  be  known,  but  one  bullet  in  that  hail 
of  lead  struck  him  in  the  right  leg  and  shattered  the 
bone. 

He  sank  down  in  the  midst  of  the  rich,  growing 
grain  and  in  spite  of  the  pain  he  smiled  and  Eddy 
heard  him  call  out: 

"I  guess  that  settles  it." 

Dragging  his  shattered  leg  after  him  the  outlaw 
crawled  deeper  into  the  lush  growth  of  grain  and, 
balancing  himself,  he  drew  both  revolvers  and  fired 
with  astonishing  rapidity  in  many  directions. 

His  object  was  to  create  the  "impression  among  the 
head  hunters  that  it  was  dangerous  to  approach  him. 
His  effort  was  entirely  successful  and  no  man  of  them 
all  dared  enter  that  field. 


184  TRACY,   THE   BANDIT. 

Tracy  took  a  handkerchief  from  about  his  neck  and 
endeavored  to  staunch  the  flow  of  blood  from  the 
wound*  in  his  leg  but  an  artery  had  been  cut  and  he 
found  this  impossible. 

There,  in  the  midst  of  a  shelter  provided  by  nature's 
beneficence  to  man,  he  sat  in  the  gathering  darkness 
and  watched  the  life-blood  spurt  until  the  ground 
around  him  was  saturated. 

Who  can  tell  what  the  man's  thoughts  were,  as  he 
felt  the  weakness  of  death  creeping  upon  him?  Was 
there  regret  for  the  wasted  life?  remorse  for  the  crimes 
that  bore  heavily  upon  his  guilty  soul?  Did  he  long 
for  another  day  and  another  chance? 

Perhaps  in  that  dark  hour  the  home  in  the  Ozarks 
was  in  his  thoughts,  his  mind  went  back  to  that  night 
when  he  put  it  all  behind  him  and  left  'Genie  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill  looking  down  into  the  valley  in  which 
he  had  spent  his  boyhood. 

At  the  end,  when  the  loss  of  blood  brought  on  the 
partial  syncope  that  precedes  death,  the  native  spirit  of 
the  man  asserted  itself  again. 

He  must  not  be  taken.  That  was  his  thought.  Rais- 
ing himself  on  one  hand,  he  lifted  the  other  clasping 
his  pistol,  to  his  temple,  and  with  an  expiring  effort, 

pulled  the  trigger. 

#  #  #  *  *  * 

The  morning  sun  dissipating  the^  chill  of  night 
warmed  the  head-hunters,  surrounding  the  field  of 
death,  into  action.  The  pistol  shot  in  the  darkness 
had  been  a  signal  of  joy  to  many  of  them  who  sus- 
pected the  truth. 


TRACY,  THE  BANDIT.  185 

Creeping  cautiously  with  advanced  weapons  through 
the  grain  they  met  in  the  middle  of  the  field  ready  to 
shoot  down  their  quarry  at  any  sign  of  movement. 

Then  they  came  upon  him.  Stark  upon  his  back,  his 
unwinking  eyes  looking  into  the  dome  of  the  heaven 
that  is  sometimes  pitying,  a  smile  upon  his  lips,  in 
his  right  hand  the  engine  of  death,  lay  all  that  was 
mortal  of  HARRY  TRACY,  the  BANDIT. 


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Under  the  Black  Flag 

The  autobiography  of  Kit  Dalton,  a  guerrilla  captain 
under  Quantrell  and  for  17  years  a  noted  outlaw. 

Regan  Publishing  Corporation,    26  E.  Van  Bur  en  St.,    Chicago 


